All news

Turkish operation is result of coalition’s actions in Syria, says Russian envoy

Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya noted that Russia had warned them against "experimenting with that"

UNITED NATIONS, October 10. /TASS/. The demographic policy pursued by some member-countries of the US-led international coalition in Syria was a precondition for Turkey’s military operation in the country, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya told reporters on Thursday.

According to Nebenzya, Russia proceeds from the premise that "all sides should exercise maximum restraint during that operation." He stressed that "this operation is the result of demographic engineering that some of the coalition partners did in the northeast of Syria."

Russia’s envoy noted that Russia had warned them against "experimenting with that." "Now the coalition is reaping the fruits of their demographic policies in that part of Syria," he added.

On October 9, Ankara announced the start of a new military operation in northern Syria dubbed Peace Spring, which began with airstrikes on positions of Kurdish units. Its objective is to create a buffer zone in northern Syria where Syrian refugees could return from Turkey, Ankara believes. The buffer zone will also establish a security belt for the Turkish border. Syria’s SANA news agency branded the operation as an act of aggression, while the global community condemned Ankara’s actions. The UK, Germany and France requested a UN Security Council meeting on the issue.