Turkish troops hit by shelling in Idlib should not have been there: Russia
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that
Turkish troops hit by shelling on Feb. 27 should not have been in the Syrian
area where they were and that Ankara had not informed Moscow in advance about
their location, the RIA news agency reported.
It said Turkish forces had not communicated their
presence in the area, “where they should not have been.”
The ministry said, however, that Russian war planes
had not carried out strikes in the area where Turkish troops were and that
Russia had done everything to ensure the Syrian army ceased fire to allow the
troops to evacuate.
“The Russian air force is not used in this zone,”
the ministry added.
Russia said that the Turkish troops who came under
fire by the Syrian army were among “terrorists.”
On Thursday “Turkish soldiers who were in the battle
formations of terrorist groups came under the fire of Syrian troops,” the
defence ministry said in a statement.
