Damascus accused Ankara of trying to create two new terrorist groups in Syria, including fighters from the “Islamic state” (IG) and “Jabhat EN-Nusra” (both banned in Russia). In an interview with RIA Novosti said the Syrian Ambassador to Moscow Riyad Haddad.
The diplomat gave the names of these groups. According to him, one of them is called “Shield of the coast”, the second “Shield of al-ASI”
“But the new names do not mean differences of these groups to terrorist organizations: the name is new, the members are the same as in the IG, “Dzhabhat EN-Nusra” and other terrorist groups. They change only the name, but the doctrine remains the same,” — said Haddad.
According to him, for recruitment in the new organization they are promised salaries of $ 400 dollars a month, and Turkish citizenship.
On 4 April, the head of the Syrian diplomatic mission in Moscow said that Damascus considers Ankara’s plans to conduct new military operations in Syria, as well as the presence of Turkish troops on the territory of the Arab Republic of blatant aggression against the sovereignty of the country.
A day earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara is preparing for new operations in Syria after it had been completed “shield of the Euphrates”, launched in August 2016. Damascus has repeatedly said that it violates Syrian sovereignty.