Turkish Minister of War Hulusi Akar assessed the likelihood of a military operation in Syria
Photo: Murad Sezer / Reuters
Turkey's military operation in Syria will depend on the security of the borders of the Turkish state. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of the country Hulusi Akar, his words were reported by RIA Novosti.
“We have a mission, a duty. What's this? The security of our borders, our citizens, ”the minister called the priority task of the Turkish armed forces. He added that Turkish troops will do “whatever is necessary” to fulfill this mission.
According to some sources, Ankara is preparing new military operations in northern Syria. The Turks intend to confront both terrorists and the government forces of the incumbent President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian civil war began in 2011. Since then, the initiative has alternately passed into the hands of either the opposition forces, or the militants from the Islamic State (the organization is banned in Russia ), or the government forces. Turkey formally intervened in the conflict on the side of the opposition, but for the most part supported the Turkomans living in the north of the country and actively fought against the Kurdish military formations.
Russia also intervened in the war in Syria. In 2015, a diplomatic conflict erupted between Ankara and Moscow after a Turkish plane shot down a Russian front-line Su-24 bomber in Syria. One of the pilots of the aircraft managed to survive, he was saved by the Iranian special forces.
