Moscow is in contact with all involved parties regarding a possible Turkish operation against the Kurds in northeastern Syria and has called on all sides to engage in reasonable behavior, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Sputnik on Friday.
On Wednesday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Ankara would launch a new military operation in Syria within days to free the area east of the Euphrates River from US-backed Kurdish militia.
“We maintain contacts with all parties, including the Kurds in Syria and abroad. There are several points of view, such pluralism. … We call on everyone to be reasonable. After all, we believe that dialogue and political methods are better than an armed conflict, war and destruction,” Bogdanov said on the sidelines of the intergovernmental Russian-Syrian commission in Damascus.
US-Turkish relations have suffered a setback amid Ankara’s concerns over US support for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Ankara has also repeatedly accused Washington of failing to fulfill its promises regarding the withdrawal of the YPG from Syria’s Manbij.
Ankara regards the YPG as an affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by the US, European Union and Turkey.