Russia accuses Turkey in shelling Syria

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Russian Defense Ministry has “irrefutable evidence of Syria's territory being shelled by Turkish troops. “Armenpress” reports, citing TASS, RF Defense Ministry representative Igor Konashenkovtold the aforementioned.

“Russian Defense Ministry is waiting for explanations from representatives of NATO and the Pentagon of the actions of Turkish military which the ministry accuses of shelling the Syrian territory," Konashenkov said.

According to Konashenkov, Turkish military shell Syria’s territory from large-caliber artillery, andRussia has "irrefutable evidence" of these cases.

The general said Russia’s military have receivedfootage provided by Syria’s General Staff that showsdeployment of large-caliber self-propelled artillery weapons in one of near-border areas. The ministry also received a video from Syria’s opposition showing the shelling of Syria, he said. "This is called a fact. This is irrefutable evidence that Turkey’s armed forces shell near-border Syrian settlements from large-caliber artillery systems," Maj. Gen. Konashenkov said. He showed the journalists a video that pictured a part of the Syrian-Turkish border. "This facility is a Turkish frontier post where several months ago there were no firing points," he said.

Speaking on Ankara’s new allegations that Russia's Su-34 bomber violated Turkey’s airspace last week, Konashenkov said: "Those who warn us about consequences without understanding what happened, should first of all think about the trap their Turkish partners are dragging them into."

Russian-Turkish relations intensified after the Russian bomber was shot down over Syria by an air-to-air surface fired from a Turkish F-16 plane on November 24, when the bomber was at an altitude of 6,000 meters at a distance of 1 km from the Turkishborder. The jet dropped 4 km away from the Turkish border.

According to President Putin, theSu-24 plane incident in is "a stab in Russia’s back” delivered by terrorist accomplices.