The Turkish government has accused Russia of committing “massacres” in support of the Syrian government led by Bashar-al-Assad last week as Assad’s troops advance on the last rebel-held strongholds in North-western-Syria.
The Syrian civil war which has been ravaging the country since 2011, has increasingly become a proxy conflict between major world powers for geopolitical control of the region over the past nine years.
Bashar Al-Assad’s government in Damascus with the support of Russia and Iran has managed to largely crush the revolt against it and over the last few weeks has been aggressively advancing into the final areas held by the Turkish-backed rebels.
This after what looked like stalemate had been reached after negotiations between Russia and Turkey ended following the withdrawal of American forces from much of the region.
With the rebels’ position looking increasingly precarious, thousands of Turkish troops and tons of equipment have begun to pour into the rebel-held areas from Turkey to shore up their defences.
As a result, Russia and Turkey have aggressively criticized each other and Russian media have begun publishing stories about Turkish hostility to Russia.
The intervention of Turkish troops in large numbers threatens to reignite a conflict that many had hoped was nearing the final stage, and raises the possibility of a conflict between Turkey and Russia.