Russian presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has said Russia is trying to convince Turkey to abandon the idea of conducting a ground operation against Kurdish militant groups in northern Syria, the state-run Russian news agency Tass reported.
“[This] dialogue is ongoing. No ground operation has been launched yet, which means there has been a positive result already. We will press on,” Bogdanov said on Monday.
Asked whether Moscow has been trying to dissuade Ankara from conducting a ground operation, Bogdanov said, “Of course [we have],”
Turkey has increased artillery and airstrikes on northern Syria in recent weeks and has said it is preparing for a possible ground operation against Syrian Kurdish fighters that it says are terrorists but who make up the bulk of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who helped a coalition of Western powers fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The air raids followed a bombing in İstanbul that killed six people and wounded 81. Ankara blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community.
Although Ankara claims Kurdish forces in Syria were behind the Ä°stanbul bombing, no group has claimed responsibility, and the SDF and the PKK denied involvement.
Not only Russia but also the United States is against a Turkish ground offensive in northern Syria.