Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 18
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Turkey and Russia must coordinate their actions if military operations start in Syria’s Afrin, because there are Russian observers in the city, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, the country’s media reported Jan. 18.
Cavusoglu said that coordination is necessary to ensure safety of Russian observers during the military operations.
He noted that the number of Russian observers in Afrin reaches 200 people.
Earlier, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the US is openly supporting Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) terrorist groups in Syria. He said the actions of the US don’t correspond to the spirit of ally relations with Turkey. He noted that Turkey will take all necessary steps against provocative actions of the US.
On Jan. 14, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that cooperation of the US with PYD and YPG contradicts Washington’s commitments and statements made earlier, and threatens the national security of Turkey.
“We condemn this erroneous decision and we would like to remind once again that Turkey reserves the right to eliminate any kind of threat,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.