Putin doubts Turkey's ability to defeat ‘terrorists’ in Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he doubts that Turkey will be able to contain Islamic State militants based in northern Syria as a result of its new military operation.
According to Putin, so far the areas with IS militants were controlled by Kurdish military formations. "Now the Turkish army is there, the Kurds are abandoning these camps, they [ISIS militants] can just run away. I am not sure whether the Turkish army will be able to take control of it, and how quickly," Putin said in a statement published on the Kremlin’s website.
Referring to the data of the Russian military command, Putin added that now in Syria there are "hundreds thousands of fighters with thousands of them from the CIS countries (former Soviet Union). This is a real threat to us," the Russian president said.
Turkey launched the new military operation “Operation Peace Spring”" in northeastern Syria on October 9. Ankara says its aims to establish a security zone near its border, fight terrorists and return Syrian refugees to their homes.