Russia urges Turkey to show restraint in Syria
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian official on Tuesday called on Turkey “to show a certain restraint” in order to prevent further escalation in Syria, where tensions heightened over the weekend after Turkish airstrikes killed and wounded a number of Syrian soldiers.
Russian presidential envoy in Syria Alexander Lavrentyev expressed hope that “it will be possible to convince our Turkish partners to refrain from excessive use of force on the Syrian territory.”
“We will, of course, call on our Turkish colleagues to show a certain restraint in order to prevent an escalation of tension, and an escalation of tension not only in the north, but also in the entire territory of Syria,” Lavrentyev was quoted as saying by the Russian state news agencies in the Kazakh capital, Astana, ahead of talks on Syria.
Turkey carried out airstrikes on suspected Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria and Iraq over the weekend, in retaliation for a deadly Nov. 13 bombing in Istanbul that Ankara blames on the militant groups. The airstrikes also hit several Syrian army positions in three provinces along the border with Turkey, and killed and wounded a number of Syrian soldiers, Syrian officials said.
Following the strikes, on Monday suspected Kurdish militants in Syria fired rockets across the border into Turkey, killing at least two people and wounding 10 others, according to Turkish officials.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Moscow views Turkey’s security concerns “with understanding and respect” but also urges Ankara to “refrain from steps that could lead to a serious destabilization of the situation in general.”
“It can come back as a boomerang, complicate the state of security affairs even more,” Peskov said.
