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Ankara Rules Out Russian Participation in Strike on its Soldiers in Syria | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Ankara announced again that it would respond to bombardment that took place on Thursday during which four of its soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded. Forces participating in operation Euphrates Shield in which Turkish forces are supporting soldiers belonging to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the north of Syria were bombed in the strike.

The Turkish government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus who is also the Deputy Prime Minister said in a statement that he made after a cabinet meeting in Ankara yesterday that the Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured Turkey that the aircraft that carried out the attack on Turkish soldiers near the Syrian city Al-Bab last week “were not Russian”.

He added that “the necessary steps” would be taken as soon as the records of air strikes were reviewed. The Turkish army said it suspected that the strike was carried out by the Syrian regime’s forces, and if this is the case, this would be the first strike in which Turkish nationals have been killed at the hands of the Syrian regime since Ankara began its campaign across the border in August. Four Turkish soldiers were killed including one of whom died in hospital of his wounds in Turkey, and nine others were injured in the airstrike.