‘Friendly fire’ hits Russia-Turkey relations
BEIRUT: A Russian air strike killed three Turkish soldiers in northern Syria on Thursday, an attack that both countries described as an accident. Still, it injected new tension into a volatile corner of the Syrian battlefield as new clashes erupted between Turkish-backed rebels and Russian-backed government forces.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia apologised in a phone call to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling the deaths a “tragic incident”, according to official accounts from their governments. One Turkish official called it “friendly fire”.
Both countries appeared eager to avoid derailing their new cooperative effort in Syria, where they have been seeking to lead a new effort to resolve the complex six-year-old conflict, even as they support combatants on opposite sides.
But the episode between Russia and Turkey, a Nato member, ratcheted up an already risky situation in northern Syria. It came as Syrian rebels in that area, fighting alongside Turkish troops, clashed for the first time with pro-government forces operating with Russian air cover.
The government and rebel forces are closing in from different directions on Al Bab, which is the last urban area held by the Islamic State west of Raqqa, the terror group’s de facto capital. Both the government and rebel sides view Al Bab as an important prize.
Turkey and the Syrian rebels it supports want the city to be part of a rebelheld zone they have carved out along the Turkish border. Government forces want to stop the rebel advance at Al Bab to limit the zone’s size. And both sides want credit for defeating the Islamic State.
Russia and Turkey have said they were coordinating to ensure they and their Syrian partners did not come into conflict.
But on Thursday, artillery battles broke out between the pro- and anti-government forces, according to fighters on the ground in the al-Bab area. A few hours later the Russian air strike came.
The events added to an atmosphere of uncertainty and underscored the challenges for all sides in Syria, where alliances and front lines are shifting.
In portraying the Russian air strike as an accident, officials from Turkey, Russia and the Turkish-backed rebel groups also denied reports that Turkish troops had shelled Syrian government troops in retaliation. But Syrian rebels on the ground reported heavy clashes between Turkish and Syrian government forces throughout the day.
Rebel officials said those clashes had nothing to do with the air strike and said that after government forces attacked them with artillery the Turks helped return fire.
It was clear the Russian and Turkish governments were taking the episode seriously and seeking to ease tensions. Top generals offered and received condolences and Mr Putin’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, briefed him on plans to “enhance coordination”.
Rebels said on Thursday that Turkish troops had repositioned themselves as buffers between rebel and government forces.
An adviser to Mr Erdogan, Ilnur Cevik, said Turkey had no reason to retaliate for the airstrike, calling it “just friendly fire”.
That a Turkish official would use such language — implying that Turkey and Russia are allies — indicates how much the relationship has warmed since Turkey downed a Russian jet near the Syrian border in November 2015. Both Turkey and Russia want to keep it that way.
Russia needs Turkish cooperation to strengthen its new prominence in Middle East diplomacy. The countries are restoring economic ties after a costly rift and their growing relationship has transformed the Syrian conflict.