Moscow Hopes Ankara To Ensure Security Of Russians In Turkey - Kremlin

Moscow hopes that the Turkish authorities will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of Russian institutions and citizens in Turkey amid an escalation between Turkish and Syrian troops in Syria, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th February, 2020) Moscow hopes that the Turkish authorities will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of Russian institutions and citizens in Turkey amid an escalation between Turkish and Syrian troops in Syria, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held an operational meeting with permanent members of the Security Council to discuss the situation in Syria's Idlib, the last remaining stronghold of militants in Syria, where the tensions escalated. Meanwhile, the Turkish authorities have tightened security measures to protect the Russian embassy in Ankara. Earlier in February, Russian diplomatic personnel in Turkey received threats on social media amid the escalation between Turkey and Russia-backed Syrian government forces.

"The meeting's participants expressed hope that the Turkish authorities would take all necessary measures to ensure the security of Russian foreign institutions and citizens in Turkey," Peskov said.

Earlier in February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Turkey had not fulfilled several key commitments outlined in a bilateral accord on Idlib, including Ankara's failure to distinguish between the armed opposition, which is ready for dialogue with the government within the framework of the political process, and terrorists.