Moscow Condemns Turkish Airstrikes Against YPG, Says Ankara Has To Focus On Nusra And ISIS

Moscow Condemns Turkish Airstrikes Against YPG, Says Ankara Has To Focus On Nusra And ISIS

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The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned Turkish airstrikes against Kurdish YPG forces in Syira.

The statement:

Reports coming in say that the Turkish air force carried out airstrikes on the night of April 25 against Iraqi and Syrian regions bordering Turkey. Turkey has stated that the air strikes targeted positions held by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Syrian Democratic Forces headed by the Democratic Union Party, close to the PKK. They report around 70 Kurdish fighters dead.

Moscow is deeply concerned by these actions. The Turkish military has acted here against the Kurdish forces that are genuinely combating terrorist groups, above all ISIS, on the ground. At a time when the war on terror in Iraq and Syria is far from over, these actions clearly do not help to consolidate counterterrorism efforts and aggravate an already tense situation. 

We are also concerned over the fact that the Turkish airstrikes were carried out against sovereign states’ territory, bypassing these states’ legitimate governments. We consider such actions unacceptable and in breach of the basic principles of relations between states.

In this situation, we call on all parties to show restraint. It is important to show the needed political foresight and focus our attention on the most important task today – combating the terrorist international in the form of ISIS, al-Nusra and other affiliated groups.  

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Jasminko Grdic

Erdogan use this Nusra, FSA, Ahrar & Isis for his dream of big Turkey , or better say The old Otoman Empire that was almost to Wien, Egypt and Persia

Jürgen Walter

If they try to steal more Syrian lands just bomb them in albab and jarablus and where they are invading that will send them packing. Show the uncontrolled dog who is the boss here not turkey can not do whatever it wants thinking it’s a superpower. You do not want the dog to do bolder things.

Bill Wilson

Erdogan is like a dog that chases cars. Most drivers ignore them until they finally get pissed off and swerve to run it over.

gfsdyughjgd .

The word dog is already included in his name.

Jonathan Cohen

All the bombs are needed to bomb ISIS and HTS, so bomb them with what?

Gne

Turkey respects the territorial integrity of Syria and the US must be respectful. But the US is supporting and arming terrorists in northern Syria. Create ISIS, then support YPG. Which problem solves US ?

Wally

Is that why turkey backs terrorists turkifying albab? You smell like a turk.

Bernie Matthews

Just a bunch of empty words without action from Russia won’t stop Turkey from continuing to do it. Russia continually allows Turkey to make incursions into Syrian territory. Russia allows Turkey to freely support ISIS across the border just as much as the US.

Mikronos

One of these days Turkey will get its own American-inspired ‘springtime’. It’s on the neocons list too.

Bernie Matthews

The Kurds have been the only ones actively conducting a fight against ISIS right from the start and all Russia can do in response to Turkeys actions is produce a bunch of empty words without action.

Bill Wilson

It’s kinda hard to shoot down jets that dash in for a short distance to drop a load then peel back home since any missile fired after they commit a bombing run probably will hit the jets when they’re back in Turkish air space. Russia, Syria and the US need to declare Northern Syria as a No-Fly Zone for anyone else than them and all intruders will be shot down as soon as they enter Syrian air space. The fool Erdogan is testing his luck and everyone’s patience. Everybody knows that he’ll be ordered out of Northern Aleppo Province then ran out by force if he doesn’t comply plus lacks the balls to invade Rojava. He may be crazy enough to threaten to take over the NATO bases and kick out the foreign troops while keeping all their equipment. That won’t cause a war but will the imposition of a complete trade embargo so nobody will be willing to do business with Turkey. Russia, the US and EU have enough economic clout to strong arm others from trading with the Erdogan Empire.

Bernie Matthews

But that’s just the point though. The US and Nato have been trying to get no fly zones ever since the conflict started but Russia never agrees to anything the US or Nato want’s. Russia while being a member of Nato acts like a rouge state within Nato answering to no one and just does what they want. There’s no coordination In operations in Syria and just when their was starting to be some co-operation so much so the US was conducting bombings of ISIS around Palmyra their was the gas attack derailing everything. It was a deliberate act of desperation and likely on purpose to derail co-operation. I have doubts Russia will ever work with Nato, Europe and the US to strong arm Turkey.

Pave Way IV

“…Russia while being a member of Nato acts like a rouge state within Nato answering to no one and just does what they want…”

That damn Putin! They should throw Russia out of NATO once and for all!
Oops… http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/nato_countries.htm

(They’re not in NATO and never were, Bernie)

Jonathan Cohen

Without NATO, Russia is quite likely to seize the opportunity to invade Turkey, I would. However Russia should ask PKK to move south and fight ISIS only. We don’t want this conflict and both sides have to give a little, which is easy because all the ammo is needed to fight ISIS, leaving none for each other.

FlorianGeyer

But and its a big BUT, Turkey controls the Bosphorus and that is the sea route for Russian supplies to Syria.

Mikronos

Bullshit! Assad was fighting ISIS while it was still a CIA operation. The Kurds got into it when ISIS went after them, too. Syrain Kurds have no future allied with the USA or the Iraqi Kurds. Turkey helped ISIS get started. It provided training bases for ISIS and for CIA-backed Syrian ‘rebel’ forces. It has waged aggressive war on Syria and on Syrian Kurds.

Jonathan Cohen

YPJ is right and wise to accept arms from whoever gives them and ally with whoever gives them the most and best arms with which to fight ISIS. But they cannot afford war with Turkey and should demand the PKK move south to fight ISIS. Turkey should save their bombs for ISIS and YPG should save their mortar rounds too.

Bernie Matthews

Yep and that ally is the US and the West an it most likely always will be because Russia and it’s oppressive allies don’t share democratic principles, rights for women or different ethnic, religious and social groups.

Jonathan Cohen

Russia has abortion rights, less threatened than in the US. I see no reason why Russia can’t win YPG alliance by giving more than US.

Bernie Matthews

Russia has hardly any rights for women. Russia oppresses people from different religious backgrounds and minority’s. Russia Jails and murders Human rights activists, journalists and political oponnent’s and opposition. The Russian government confiscates any assets anyone successful in Russia makes. Seriously you must joking about Russia giving the YPG and the Kurdish people more than the US. LOL. Whos been doing the hard lifting giving the Kurds and the YPG support fighting ISIS? Not Russia! Russia will never give the Kurds more support than the US because Kurdish ideology conficts with Russia’s and Russia’s Middle Eastern partners in the region.

Jonathan Cohen

I hear SDF also “confiscates any assets anyone successful…makes”, so they should get along with Russia just fine, as they have for many years. Only problem is Russia has less to give than the US. However US has not yet given SDF more than Russia has.

Bernie Matthews

This is the real people Assad, Iran, Lebanon Russia and their regime, terrorist and militia partners have been fighting against! Assad’s own people not ISIS.
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2017/04/24/4654878.htm

Mikronos

And the Kurds a future as another western-backed pseudostate like Israel? At least the Kurds have a record of actually possessing the land on which they live, but they have the misfortune to live on chunks of land that other nations consider to be theirs.

Of course people who don’t live there are being very generous in ‘giving’ it to them – for it’s not theirs. The Syrian Kurds got along well with Assad – I could see them autonomus in Syria.

Bernie Matthews

Well that’s ware your wrong because it’s the West who will be the ones who help The Kurds become autonomous in Syria as they did in Northern Iraq. And eventually it will be the West who helps Iranian Kurds get an autonomous region in Iran.

gustavo

Well said by Mikronos, Bullshit !

Bernie Matthews

Bullshit! right back at you Mikronos. The Kurds have been fighting against Turkey continually for over 100 yrs especially Rojova, PKK and the Peshmerga so they affectively been fighting ISIS right from the start. The Kurds have more of a future allied with the US than what they do with Russia, Assad, Turkey, Iran and Iranian Militia groups the Hezbollah Militia terrorist organisation. Russia Supports just as many terrorist groups in Syria by Proxy through Iran, Lebanon and Hezbollah Just the same way it gets the Russian FSB to out source Russian hackers to attack Western elections and businesses.

Jonathan Cohen

All Russias bombs are needed to drop on ISIS and Al Nusra, leaving none for Turkey or Ukraine. so then what action? Russie should also call on PKK to move south and fight ISIS.

FlorianGeyer

Russia has many tens of thousands of bombs from the USSR days in storage.

Jonathan Cohen

And should drop hundreds of thousands of bombs on ISIS and AQ. still none left over for Turkey. Same for US, which must have none left over for N. Korea.

Solomon Krupacek

today sunk 1 russian warship nearby bosphorus

Bill Wilson

That was a Russian reconnaissance frigate which collided with a Togo-flagged freighter in dense fog 25 nautical miles away from the Strait in the Black Sea. The freighter was carrying a load of sheep from Romania to Jordan and only suffered minor bow damage. I guess that frigate was a rusty relic that cratered when smacked by the freighter and had a drunk sailor manning it’s navigation radar. Fortunately there wasn’t any lost of life and all the Russians have been rescued.

Solomon Krupacek

Probably. :) I was surprised, thet one old commercial ship sunked the warship.

cortisol

Built in Soviet Poland in 1970, all hands rescued

Solomon Krupacek

and? if is in such desolate stage, should not be used. or?

cortisol

I highly doubt any small vessel in any navy is designed to withstand a collision with a significantly larger cargo vessel occurring in any larger angle.

Solomon Krupacek

OK, i accept your argue.

Gabriel Hollows

All they ever do is bitch and moan.

Jonathan Cohen

I sympathize, but ISIS first. We don’t want this war.

Barba_Papa

Nothing says we don’t like what you’re doing as a S-400 SAM battery close to the Turkish border. And one near the Israeli border too for that matter.

gfsdyughjgd .

Erdogan fights Syrian government and Putin and Lavrov allows Erdogan to be part of Astana peace plan which Erdogan never contributed to.Attack by Erdogan,Netanyahu and USA/Nato will continue until Damascus fall.Honestly Russian missile defence system is useless against hit and run coalition,Turkey and Israel jets.Putin plays cool boy while the shot is also in his back yard.

Solomon Krupacek
Jonathan Cohen

We don’t want this war because we need to crush HTS and ISIS first. Ask PKK to move south and fight ISIS.

Gjergj

Without kurdish factor SAA would have not made it to this day. The Kurdish uprising was an important factor deterring ISIS and other terrorists from putting SAA in real impossible conditions.

Ho Pw

I beg to differ. The Kurds is fighting against Turkey-backed ISIS for their own survival. They were part of the Syrian coalition forces. The coalitions includes Syrian army, Hezbollah, Russia, Iran, Syria’s Tiger Force and Desert Hawk and also many local self defence volunteer group some trained by Russia. The whole Syria War from the beginning conduct by Zionist US/Israel have backfired. Instead of weakening Syria, Syria become stronger. The People of Syria become more resilience. Many thanks to all those who have help her especially Russia. I am positive the Resistance of Axis will defeat the Axis of Evil.

Ho Pw

Turkey main aim in Syria is to help the “FSA” and ISIS to fight Syrian army and the YPG. Turkey wants to create a corridor for ISIS to deliver Syria oil/gas from Syria’s oil/gas fields at the desert areas through that corridor. Without a doubt Erdogan delivered weapons to ISIS in exchange for stolen Syrian oil/gas.

Jonathan Cohen

At one time, yes, but now Turkey wants a front on which to fight ISIS and annex ISIS held land, and he should get one, by transiting allied Iraqi Kurdistan and relieving Dier Ezzor; East, then South of Rojava. Bringing Turkish abortion rights with them to the outskirts of Dier Ezzor.

gustavo

If you could win a war by condemning ….. what a wonderful world.

Jonathan Cohen

This war is not wanted. Putin also needs to ask PKK to move south to fight ISIS also and stop wasting ammo on Turks.

Pave Way IV

So it sounds like the Turks are massing troops on the border and getting ready to invade Kurdish-held Syria (again) with their head-chopper FSA. Kobane was mentioned, but Jarabulus (an on to Manbij) and Tel Abyad (and on to Raqqa) are the interesting ones to note.

The Turkomen FSA really don’t stand a chance against the YPG/YPJ unless they have Turkish artillery and air support. I would add “…andTurkish armor..”, but I don’t think Turkey will make that costly mistake with the Kurds. It will be interesting to see which side the ‘Arab’ side of the SDF supports, or if they will just stand down while the Kurds duke it out with the Turks.

The YPJ commander has already threatened to pull out of Tabqa/Raqqa if the US didn’t do something about the Turk airstrikes – which killed YPJ members. The US SF guys embedded in the SDF around Tabqa/Raqqa will be left in a difficult situation if they lose a few thousand YPG/YPJ to fight the FSA on the northern border.

Jonathan Cohen

And for once I am with my own US military here. We need to demand just the opposite movement. PKK needs to move south to fight ISIS and leave Turkey alone at least as long as Turkey keeps their abortion rights. Turkey needs to go East of Rojava and relieve Dier Ezzor from the Northeast.

Wahid Algiers

When the meeting point M4/M5 highway south of Idlib city will be reached one day in the soon future, the turkish dogs have to decide to get more or to leave step by step. Their troops in Syria are almost all conscripers who are missing the milky breast of their ugly mothers. And a big lift of Special Forces into Syria will be answered powerful by Syrian alliances because of crossing a red line then. Further on the cunts of the US will stop the Ottomans-dreamer not to avoid any severe troubles with the Kurds inside Syria and Iraq.

Jonathan Cohen

Good for Russia! however PKK also needs to move south, leave Turkey alone and fight ISIS. Erdogan is not the only one wasting ammo on targets other than ISIS. PKK is too.

Lyubomir

Moscow just unleashed Turkey, and gave them a green light for the Kurds, and that was very clever attack and test for Trump. He has to chose now between the Kurds and the Ottomans. I think they will try to give eastern Kurdish teritorrys to Turkey to join Idlib, Al-bab and Afrin regions, there will be some sort of staged event and they will join Turkey. SDF got on its flag the map of North West Kurdish independent state.