Russia did not publically accuse Rurkey of dealing with Daesh, the country’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday.
In an interview with an Italian new agencies in Moscow, Lavrov said that his country has long known about the use of Turkish territory for the training of Daesh terrorists but was reluctant to talk about the issue openly as it did not believe that the support came from the government in Ankara.
“Frankly, we have known for a long time how Turkish territory is being used for commercial operations with Daesh, for the transfer of weapons and terrorists to Syria, as well as to provide extremists and militants with an opportunity to heal and rest, and then get ready for new operations, not only in Syria, but also in other regions, including our North Caucasus,” he said.
The Russian minister slammed what he said was “our American partners claims that the vast majority of Syria’s population are Sunnis who do not accept Assad’s regime because he represents a minority. These claims aim to provoke religious conflict in Syria.”
“We can create an international coalition against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, but we hope the US-led coalition forces’ actions in Syria and Iraq do not become a tradition in the fight against terrorism,” he said.
Russia accused Turkey of purchasing oil from Daesh after Ankara shot down a Russian plane on 24 November which it said had violated its airspace.