Turkish prime minister urges Putin and Trump to stop 'street fight' over Syria
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım asked the presidents of Russia and the US to stop their “street fight” over Syria, Deutsche Welle reports.
“They are behaving like street ruffians, but who will have to pay for it? The civilian population,” Anadolu cites the prime minister as saying. “What are they doing? They are threatening each other with tweets on Twitter,” the politician emphasized.
Yıldırım warned that “now is not the time for rivalry”. Instead, we must “heal the regional wounds and unite,” he suggested. According to him, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, including Russia and the US, currently “bear far more responsibility to the world community than ever before, and they must realize this”.
In the first tweet on April 11, Trump wrote: “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” This tweet was the first public admission by Trump that the US intends to strike Syria.
Trump made his tweet after Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said that Moscow reserves the right to shoot down any missiles which the US launches against Syria and to open fire in response.
Trump subsequently made another two tweets concerning his relation with Russia. He said that there is “no reason” for the poor relations with Russia, and suggested putting an end to the arms race. Trump also blamed Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s team for the enmity between the US and Russia.