MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Turkey would not have carried out a successful operation in Syria’s al-Bab without Russia’s support, adviser to the Turkish president Ilnur Cevik said on Monday at a conference dubbed "Relations Between Turkey and Russia: From Tensions to Boosting Cooperation." The conference was arranged by the Daily Sabah newspaper and the Turkish government’s Department of Press and Information.
"Without Russia’s support, we would not have been able to conduct a successful operation in al-Bab," he said. "If some other country was carrying out this operation, it would not have been successful."
"The support of the Russian aerospace force made its success possible," Cevik stressed.
The Turkish presidential adviser also said that "dialogue and understanding should prevail" between partners. "The Turkish troops have been advancing towards the Euphrates, the operation goes on," he went on to say. "We are doing everything possible in order to prevent any contradictions with Russia."
On February 24, the Turkish military claimed to have taken full control of the city of al-Bab.
Turkey launched the Euphrates Shield operation on August 24, 2016, in order to clear northern Syria from terror groups and create a de-facto security zone there. Liberating al-Bab from militants of the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) was the main goal of the operation starting from early December 2016.