Russia: Airstrikes that killed Turks due to intel provided by Turkey

Russian airstrikes that accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers in Syria were launched based on coordinates provided to Russia by the Turkish military, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today.

The Turkish military has said the “friendly fire” incident occurred during an operation against Daesh, highlighting the risk of unintended clashes between the numerous outside powers in a complex war.

“Unfortunately, our military, while carrying out strikes on terrorists, was guided by coordinates given to them by our Turkish partners, and Turkish servicemen should not have been present on those coordinates,” Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told a conference call with reporters.

“It was a lack of coordination in providing coordinates, that is how I would formulate it,” said Peskov.

Read: Syria regime to deploy near Al-Bab in veiled threat to Turkey

The Kremlin also said Russian President Vladimir Putin had called Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and expressed his condolences, blaming the incident on poor coordination between Moscow and Ankara.

Besides Russia and Turkey, the foreign powers embroiled in Syria’s increasingly convoluted six-year-old war include members of a US-led coalition fighting Daesh as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed global Shia jihadists from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, while Turkey supports the opposition who oppose him. In 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian air force jet that it said had crossed into Turkish airspace, though Moscow denied any incursion.

The two countries have since repaired relations, and the Kremlin statement on Thursday said the two leaders had agreed to step up military coordination against Daesh.

Read: Syrian opposition in Turkey to prepare for Geneva talks

Speaking with reporters in the city of Afyon, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said it was important that President Vladimir Putin had expressed his condolences to his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan.

“From our side the issue is being investigated. Initial information shows this was an accident…and an undesired incident as a result of incorrect information, coordinates,” Kurtulmus said in televised comments.

“It has been understood that closer coordination is required, both with the coalition and with Russia.”