Earlier, the Turkish president warned that Ankara planned to “resolve” the “Syrian issue on the field,” rather than the negotiating table, after the 31 March election.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he intends to discuss the possibility of a new Turkish military operation in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow on Monday.
Late last month, Erdogan said Ankara intends to see “the resolution of the Syrian issue on the field, not at the table, if possible.” The president’s comments were followed up by an inspection of Turkish forces stationed near the Syrian border in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa by the defence minister and the chief of general staff.
The Syrian government has condemned both US and Turkish interference in the country’s internal affairs, and has urged both countries to refrain from operations on Syrian sovereign territory. Russia, meanwhile, has urgedany talks on a possible anti-terrorist buffer zone along the Syrian-Turkish border to account for both countries’ interests.