Turkish authorities strengthened security of the Russian embassy in Ankara against the background of the death of 33 Turkish soldiers in Syrian Idlib.
Earlier the governor of Turkish border province Hatay Rahmi Dogan reported that 33 Turkish military men were killed in Idlib during air attack of the government troops, more than 30 people were wounded. The Defence Ministry said Syrian troops fired on Turkish soldiers who were in the Idlib zone near the village of Behun, along with terrorists who should not have been there. At the same time, there were no Russian Air Force in the area of Behun.
Several police cars are on duty along the perimeter of the Russian embassy, reinforced police outfits with automatic rifles patrol the streets adjacent to the Russian diplomatic mission. The school at the embassy on Friday is not working for security reasons. Overall, the situation in the area of the embassy is calm.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Turkey failed to meet several key obligations to solve problems around Syrian Idlib. In particular, it did not disassociate the armed opposition, which is ready for a dialogue with the government in the political process, from terrorists. Thus, the Russian-Turkish memorandum of 18 September 2018, agreed at the end of the meeting between Presidents Putin and Erdogan, spoke of maintaining the status quo in the presence of the Turkish military, but subject to the withdrawal of all terrorist radical groups from the de-escalation zone of Idlib until 15 October 2018. It was also stipulated that “effective measures will be taken to ensure a sustainable cessation of hostilities” within the zone. Paragraph seven of the memorandum provided for joint Russian-Turkish patrols in the area.