ANKARA, October 2. /TASS/. Turkey, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have called on Russia to stop its airstrikes in Syria, a joint statement unveiled by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry says.
- Turkey keeps communication channels open with Russia amid Syria events — PM
- US Air Force official says Russia did not deliver strikes at US-backed Syrian opposition
- Russia destroys IS headquarters in Al-Latamna suburb with ground bomb
- Russian Defense Ministry releases footage of airstrikes at IS operational staff in Syria
- Russian aircraft prevent reconstruction of IS command post in Syria’s Hama province
"We express our deep concern with regard to the Russian military build-up in Syria," the English-language statement posted on the ministry’s website on Thursday says.
"These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalization," it says.
Russia launched airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) positions in Syria on Wednesday at the request of President Bashar Assad. Russia’s upper house unanimously gave President Vladimir Putin approval to use the Russian Armed Forces abroad earlier that day.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Russian Aerospace Forces were targeting the Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups in Syria. Lavrov said that the US-led coalition was also targeting the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra."We have the same approach," Lavrov said.