Syrian Government Condemns Turkish Incursion
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned Turkey's military incursion against a Daesh-held Syrian town near its border, aided by aircraft from a US-led coalition, as a breach of its sovereignty, Syrian state television said.
It added that any counter terrorism operations inside its borders had to be conducted in coordination with Damascus and accused Ankara of launching the incursion to replace Daesh with other terrorist groups.
Turkish special forces, tanks and jets backed by planes from the US-led coalition launched their first coordinated offensive into Syria on Wednesday in what Ankara claims is an attempt to drive Daesh from the border and prevent further gains by Kurdish militia fighters, according to Reuters.
It was the first time warplanes from Turkey have struck in Syria since November, when Turkey downed a Russian warplane near the border, and the first significant incursion by Turkish special forces since a brief operation to relocate the tomb of Suleyman Shah, a revered Ottoman figure, in February 2015.
