Turkish Foreign Ministry summons Russian Envoy over soldier's death after shots fired from Syria
The Turkish Foreign Ministry told Sergey Panov, Russia’s charge d’affaires to the Foreign Ministry, of its “serious concern” over the death of a Turkish soldier as a result of shooting from the territory of Syria.
This was stated by Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu, as reported by TASS.
“Yesterday, our soldier was killed as a result of the actions of a sniper. The shooting came from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, where Russia is responsible for enforcing the ceasefire. So we summoned the charge d’affaires,” he said.
According to Muftuoglu, the sniper fired from the zone controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). He also said that Ankara is “constantly explaining to Russia that the PYD is a terrorist organization that poses a threat.”
“We are awaiting steps from Moscow to close the offices of the PYD,” Muftuoglu added.
The day before, the Turkish soldier was shot by a sniper while he was patrolling the border zone in the Reyhanli district of Hatay Province. The Syrian military responded by firing on the area from which the shot was fired.
In February, three Turkish soldiers were killed as a result of a Russian air strike in Syria. In Russia, the incident was declared an accident.