Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has condemned a bombing attack targeting Turkmen villages in Syria, while the Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident.
In the meeting with the Russian ambassador, Andrei Karlov, Turkey called for an immediate end to the Russian military operation, which is near the Turkish border, Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
During the meeting with Karlov on Nov. 19, “It was underlined that the Russian side’s actions were bombing civilian Turkmen villages, not fighting terror, which may lead to serious consequences,” Turkish foreign ministry added.
“From here, we are once more warning the Syrian regime. We have reacted to all the attacks aimed at civilians close to our border without making any discrimination in regards to whether they have been Turkmen, Arab or Kurdish, not only because they have been Turkmen,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
“In recent days, there have been many intensified attacks against Syrian people in general and against our Turkmen siblings in particular, especially in the Bayırbucak neighborhood. All of last night, we made assessments with our military, intelligence and diplomatic units. Before everything else, this attack has revealed how the Syrian regime is bloody and barbarian,” he added.
“First of all, we are against all kinds of attacks launched against civilian people. The second point, we are against all kinds of attacks leading to a new influx of refugees at our border. The third point: the Bayırbucak Turkmen are our siblings who have lived there for centuries, like other Syrians. We are condemning this barbarian attack against them in the strongest way and once more, calling on everybody to be sensitive to this issue. Nobody can legitimize massacres targeting our Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish siblings there by claiming to have been fighting terror,” Davutoglu stressed.
The Syrian Coalition previously condemned Russia’s use of cluster bombs against populated areas in many villages and towns in rural areas of southern Aleppo and in the district of Douma in rural Damascus.
The Syrian Coalition calls upon the United Nations and the UN Security Council to condemn Russian acts as it is tantamount to war crime and a crime of genocide, to stop it and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The Syrian Coalition stresses that the Russian government bears legal consequences of the killing and destruction caused by its brutal and deliberate bombardment of Syria.
Moreover, the Syrian Coalition points out that hospital and local reports confirm that Russian air forces dropped dozens of rockets, each one containing 100 cluster bombs in civilian areas, refugee camps, markets and field hospitals. These attacks have left civilian casualties, including women and children.
The Assad regime has repeatedly used internationally banned munitions against residential areas, not to mention barrel bombs and chemical weapons, most notably in the Ghouta Massacre in August 2013 when nearly 1,507 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in a sarin attack by regime forces. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Anadolu)
