ANKARA: Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told his Russian counterpart in a call on Thursday that Ankara would continue responding to attacks from northern Syria, after Russia asked Turkiye to refrain from a full-scale Syria offensive.
Akar told Sergei Shoigu that “Turkiye’s priority is to prevent the terrorism threat (from northern Syria) permanently,” and said previous agreements on this issue need to be adhered to, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Senior Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev on Wednesday said Turkiye should refrain from a full-scale ground offensive in Syria, because such actions could trigger an escalation of violence.
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Turkiye tells Russia it will continue to respond to attacks from northern Syria
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Turkiye tells Russia it will continue to respond to attacks from northern Syria
- Akar told Sergei Shoigu that "Turkiye's priority is to prevent the terrorism threat (from northern Syria) permanently"
Germany charges suspected former Syrian intelligence agent with dozens of murders
- Accused, identified as Fahad A, is suspected of interrogating, torturing and killing inmates in Damascus prison under Bashar Assad
German prosecutors have charged a suspected former member of Syrian intelligence with crimes against humanity and the torture and murder of dozens of prisoners held in a Damascus prison under Bashar Assad, a statement said on Monday.
The accused, who was arrested in May and identified only as Fahad A. under German privacy rules, was suspected of working as a guard in a prison in the Syrian capital between the end of April 2011 and mid-April 2012, it said.
“There, he participated in well over 100 interrogations during which prisoners were subjected to severe physical abuse, such as electric shocks or beatings with cables,” it said.
“On the orders of his superiors, the accused also abused inmates at night, for example by hanging them from the ceiling, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions. As a result of such mistreatment and the catastrophic prison conditions, at least 70 prisoners died.”
German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.
Based on these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last few years in Germany, which is home to around one million Syrians.
The accused, who was arrested in May and identified only as Fahad A. under German privacy rules, was suspected of working as a guard in a prison in the Syrian capital between the end of April 2011 and mid-April 2012, it said.
“There, he participated in well over 100 interrogations during which prisoners were subjected to severe physical abuse, such as electric shocks or beatings with cables,” it said.
“On the orders of his superiors, the accused also abused inmates at night, for example by hanging them from the ceiling, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions. As a result of such mistreatment and the catastrophic prison conditions, at least 70 prisoners died.”
German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.
Based on these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last few years in Germany, which is home to around one million Syrians.
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