Reuters is reporting that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Ankara of sending troops to Syria -- and that Moscow has proof:
Russia has evidence that Turkish troops are on Syrian territory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, accusing Turkey of a "creeping expansion" on its border with Syria.
Somewhere in Syria?
The comments by Lavrov are the latest confrontation between Moscow and Ankara, after Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border in November.
"Turkey has started to declare it has a sovereign right to create some safety zones on Syrian territory," Lavrov told Russian television channel Ren-TV. "According to our data, they have already 'dug themselves in' several hundred meters from the border in Syria. ... It's a sort of creeping expansion."
Turkey's continued cross-border shelling of Syrian Kurdish positions has been condemned by both Washington and Moscow. But the presence of Turkish troops on Syrian territory would add a whole new dimension to Ankara's disregard for international law.
The presence of Turkish troops in northern Syria could also create numerous scenarios which could drastically escalate the conflict.
With Syria now trying to navigate a fragile ceasefire, Turkish troops are the last thing that the region needs.
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