Ankara: A senior Turkish official says his country has warned Russia that Ankara will retaliate against any new cross-border attack on Turkish troops from Syrian Kurdish-held areas in Syria.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hussain Muftuoglu said it had summoned Russia’s top diplomat in Ankara soon after a Turkish soldier on guard duty at a border post in Turkey was shot dead by sniper fire.
Muftuoglu told reporters yesterday that Turkey had summoned the diplomat because Moscow was in charge of monitoring a ceasefire in the border area controlled by the Syrian Kurdish forces.
Turkey considers those Syrian Kurdish forces an extension of outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting Turkey.
The spokesman said Ankara also conveyed Turkey’s concerns over Russia’s military presence in Syrian Kurdish-controlled areas and demanded the closure of the group’s Moscow office.
