Expert voices an opinion why the Turkish Foreign Ministry summons the Russian ambassador

23.03.2021, Moscow.

Ankara is extremely indignant over the attacks on the infrastructure of Turkish-backed militant groups in Syria, this is the reason why the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador, Rossa Primavera News Agency’s expert in the Middle East affairs Vladimir Chichilimov wrote on March 23.

Over the past week, Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed several facilities of the Turkish-backed militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (organization banned in Russia) in northern Syria. In particular, Russian aircraft eliminated command post, headquarters and fuel depot of this militant group, the expert explained.

“All this could not but arouse the anger of Turkey, as it supports Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (organization banned in Russia),” the expert noted.

These are not the only attacks on the infrastructure of the Turkish-backed militant group in Syria. In early March, the Syrian army destroyed a fuel market in al-Hamran, where tanks with smuggled oil produced by Kurds in eastern Syria were being transported, the columnist added.

After the attack, Turkey’s defense ministry issued an official message calling on Russia to intervene and stop the attacks. “However, the exact opposite happened, Russia only intensified its strikes against Turkish-backed forces in northern Syria,” the expert explained.

On March 22, the Turkish Foreign Ministry urgently summoned the Russian ambassador to Ankara Alexei Yerkhov. According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, during the meeting Turkey expressed to the Russian ambassador its “concern about the incidents that happened” in Syria.

In particular, according to the Turkish side, the Russian air force attack on Idlib province on March 21 allegedly killed a civilian and wounded two others. Russia is also responsible for the attacks on the Sarmada area in Idlib and the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border, Ankara believes.

On the same day, according to the Turkish sources, the Syrian army, supported by Iranian units, shelled a hospital in Aleppo province. The attack killed seven people, including a child.

Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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