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17Feb16

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Moscow tried to persuade Turkey to stop contacts with IS — Russian Foreign Ministry

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Moscow wanted to maintain constructive relations with Ankara and did not publicly disclose Turkey's cooperation with Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesperson Maria Zakharova told RT TV channel on Wednesday.

"We worked in the Vienna format, we worked with our partners on bilateral basis and tried to convince them that they should not do this, that this is wrong," Zakharova said. "We should have probably talked about it publicly but we proceeded from the intention not to create more tension but instead resolve this issue," she added.

The spokesperson described Turkey's artillery strikes against armed Kurdish units on Syrian territory as "absolutely outrageous."

"In the framework of signing and adopting the Munich declaration of International Syria Support Group, when all countries aimed at stopping violence, Turkey is shelling settlements across the border, supplies money there, as well as personnel, equipment. Turkey is doing this just because it cannot deal with the fact that these regions are being freed from terrorists, extremists - from those they have so long nurtured and supported," Zakharova concluded.

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 17feb16]

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