Turkey summons Russian envoy over bombing of Turkmen

Turkey has summoned Russia's ambassador to Ankara over the recent bombing of Turkmen villages in Syria, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Syrian regime forces backed by Russian air forces launched a ground offensive on the predominantly Turkmen villages in Bayir Bucak area in northwestern Latakia province Thursday, according to local sources.

"Within this framework, Russia's ambassador to Ankara, Andrey Karlov, has been summoned to our ministry upon the instruction of our Minister [Feridun Sinirlioglu], where he was told that the Russian acts are not geared towards fighting terror, but bombing civilian Turkmen villages, which could lead to serious consequences," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a statement Friday.

Turkey has requested Russia to promptly end this operation, Bilgic said, adding that "our warnings and request have also been communicated to Russian deputy foreign minister and special presidential representative for the Middle East, Mihail Bogdanov".

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the media in Istanbul that the Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador to Ankara on Thursday night when intelligence was received that Russian fighter jets also participated in the offensive on Turkmen villages.

"We clearly told the ambassador that if Russian Air Forces and the Russian military presence [in Syria] will fight, they must do it against Daesh," Davutoglu said.

"If any attack is mounted against civilians on Turkey's borderline, even with cluster munition shelling, so as to draw the people living there towards Turkey and lead to a further refugee flow, all involved will be held responsible," he added.

Davutoglu strongly condemned the "barbarous" attack on Turkmen villages and called upon all sides to act responsibly.

"Nobody can legitimize the slaughters against our Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish brothers there using the pretext that 'We are fighting against terror'," he said.

The Turkish premier also said that doctors in Bayir Bucak told him that there were at least 40 wounded Turkmen in the incident, who were transferred to Usame Ablak Hospital in the region following the offensive.

The clashes between regime forces and opposition lasted until late hours of Thursday and left a number of people dead from both sides, local sources said, adding that early Friday, regime forces began sporadic shelling that targeted the opposition and several villages.

Abdurrahman Mostafa, Syrian Turkmen Council’s chief, said: "Russia stands behind the attacks and its main goal is seizing as much territory as possible to strengthen Assad’s position during the political transitional period."

The Turkmen-majority area is about to fall to regime forces which may cause 15,000 Turkmen to flee to Turkey, Mokhtar Fatih Mohamed, head of Turkmen doctors group in Bayir Bucak region, told Anadolu Agency on Friday.

Turkmen are a Turkic ethnic group based largely in Syria and Iraq, where they live alongside large Arab and Kurdish populations. The Turkmen community, which includes both Sunni and Shia Muslims, shares close cultural ties with Turkish people.

Syria’s devastating civil war, now in its fifth year, has left some 250,000 people dead, according to UN, and the country remains divided between different heavily-armed factions.