ANKARA — Turkey and Saudi Arabia on
Thursday warned Russia over the consequences
of its intervention in Syria, with Ankara telling
Moscow its bombing campaign in support of the
regime was a “big mistake”.
The two countries support the moderate
opposition in Syria and have been infuriated by
Moscow’s bombing campaign to prop the
regime of President Bashar Al-Assad.
“Russia is making a big mistake,” Turkish
Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu told
reporters after talks in Ankara with Saudi
counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir.
“What it does will bring no meaning or benefit,
other than delaying the transition process to
help Syria out of the chaos,” he added. “We will
continue with our warnings.”
Ankara is particularly concerned over claims —
denied by Moscow — that its bombing
campaign has targeted anti-Assad rebels rather
than the stated aim of Daesh (the so-called IS)
militants.
“Saudi Arabia and Turkey are in agreement on
supporting the opposition in Syria. What is
important is a political solution,” Jubeir said.
“We are in agreement that there will certainly
be no role for Bashar Al-Assad,” he added.
He said that in recent talks with top Russian
officials, Riyadh had told Moscow that the Syria
crisis should be solved according to the 2012
Geneva communique which envisages a
political transition in Syria.
“We (in Ankara) discussed the intervention of
foreign powers, especially the Russian
intervention which is a very critical issue and
could lead to foreigners intervening in Syria
from the outside,” Al-Jubeir said.
Meanwhile, Russia said Thursday its warplanes
had eased back on airstrikes in Syria as regime
forces press a widening ground offensive, while
President Vladimir Putin criticized Washington
for not cooperating over the conflict.
As Moscow and Washington neared agreement
on measures to avoid confrontation over Syria,
Russia announced that a hotline had been set
up with Israel to ensure there would be no
clashes between their air forces.
Russia launched 32 attacks on “terrorist” targets
over the past 24 hours, the defense ministry
said Thursday afternoon, compared with some
86 the previous day.
“The intensity of the sorties… has slightly
decreased in the past day,” a statement said,
because “the front line with the terrorist
groups of Daesh is changing as a result of active
offensives by the Syrian armed forces.”
The latest strikes targeted Damascus, Idlib,
Hama, Deir Ezzor, and Aleppo provinces.
In Aleppo, it said strikes had destroyed a Daesh
command post and an underground bomb-
making workshop.
Also eliminated were artillery positions in Khan
Sheikhun in Hama, one of the targets of the
Syrian military offensive.
https://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/kingdom-turkey-warn-russia-over-big-syria-mistake/