Russia: Turkey’s threats of ‘imminent’ military action in Syria is ‘worst case scenario’

Turkish Armed Forces’ reinforcements, including howitzers, tanks, ammunition, armored construction machines and other military vehicles, are being deployed to Syria border on 16 February 2020 as they pass through Reyhanli district of Turkey’s Hatay. [Cem Genco – Anadolu Agency]

The Kremlin yesterday rejected threats made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to launch a military operation against Syrian regime forces in Idlib as “the worst-case scenario”.

Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said in a statement that a Turkish military operation against the Syrian armed forces is “the worst-case scenario”, adding that “Moscow intends to continue contacts with Ankara to prevent the worsening of the situation in Idlib”.

“We were satisfied with the agreements that were reached in Sochi over a year ago and the satisfaction was mutual. We were absolutely not satisfied after militants and terrorist groups started launching attacks from Idlib territory against the Syrian armed forces and Russian military sites,” he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday told members of his Justice and Development Party that an operation in Idlib is “imminent”, adding “We are counting down, we are making our final warnings”.

READ: The battle for Idlib will make or break Russia’s relations with Turkey

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