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Turkey’s deputy PM says death of Turkish soldiers in Syria ‘totally accidental’

According to preliminary data, the incident happened due to improper coordination of operations in that region, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus  AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus
© AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici

ANKARA, February 10. /TASS/. The death of three Turkish soldiers as a result of a Russian air strike is "totally accidental," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told NTV channel on Friday.

"As was also stated by the Russian side earlier, this occurrence is an unintentional event and a totally accidental incident. Russia’s actions immediately after the incident are extremely important and we perceived them with satisfaction," Kurtulmus said, adding that work "continues to find out the causes of what has happened."

"According to preliminary data that we have received, this happened due to improper coordination of operations in that region. That is why, it is extremely important that this coordination between the Turkish and the Russian militaries should be enhanced in the future," the vice-premier said.

Turkey’s General Staff reported on Thursday that three Turkish servicemen had been killed in an unintentional airstrike by a Russian warplane in Syria. According to the Turkish General Staff, the incident occurred at about 08:40 local time on Thursday. One of the bombs accidently hit a building where Turkish servicemen were staying. As a result, three soldiers were killed and another eleven were wounded.

According to the Turkish General Staff’s data, the incident occurred "in the region of the conduct of Operation Euphrates Shield in north Syria, in the area of al-Bab."

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered condolences to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the tragic incident that caused the death of several Turkish servicemen near the town of al-Bab.

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