
The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern in connection with the beginning of the operation of the Turkish armed forces in the territory border with Syria. This is stated in the commentary of the Department and the Seal of the Foreign Ministry.
"In Moscow, they are deeply concerned about what is happening in the area of the Syrian -Turkish border. First of all, it is alarming the possibility of further degradation of the situation in the conflict zone, including taking into account possible related sacrifices among the civilian population and the aggravation of interethnic contradictions between the Kurds and Arabs," the document says.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that settlement in Syria is possible only "through a wide intersiria dialogue with the participation of all ethno -confessional groups, including the Kurds." The basis of the agreements should be the Geneva Communist Kommunika of June 30, 2012 and decisions of the UN Security Council adopted on the initiative of the International Syrian Support Group.
Meanwhile, the Syrian rebels supported by Turkey that they entered the city of Gerablus in the north of Syria, which was under the control of the Islamic State group, BBC reports . A free Syrian army controls approximately half of the city. Agencies and Turkish media report that IS militants leave the region and go south.
On Wednesday, Turkey began a large -scale operation in the north of Syria . At about four in the morning local time, Turkish special forces advanced to the area of the Syrian border city of Jaratlus to cleanse it from the militants of the Islamic State.
They are supported by F-16 fighters from the air, armored vehicles and artillery are also involved in the operation. The report of the Ministry of Defense of Turkey emphasized that the tanks were deployed in Turkish territory, but later it became known that more than a dozen Turkish tanks crossed the Syrian border after shelling the territory.
According to the Turkish television channel NTV, Türkiye officially informed Russia about the beginning of the operation in the north of Syria.
At the same time, Türkiye said that she was fighting not only with IS, but also with the Kurdish groups in Syria. The country supported the free Syrian army and planned to establish control of the region before the Syrian democratic forces, which include the Kurds. Also, according to officials, the operation aims to prevent new flows of migration and assistance to the civilian population.
On the eve of the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Chavushoglu said that his country is ready to support the Syrian rebels-oppositions preparing for the assault occupied by terrorists from the IS group of the city of Dzharablus. The Minister explained that Türkiye is ready to "provide full support" of such an operation. “We do not want the IS to exist in Iraq and Syria,” Chavushoglu added.