Al-Assad Urges Syrian-Turkish Investigation for Shelling Incident

Local Editor

Amid the escalated tension between Syria and Turkey, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced that Syria has problems with the Turkish government and not the Turkish people.

In an interview with the Turkish Idynlik daily, al-Assad confirmed that "Syria has no problems with either the Turkish people nor the army. We have never shown any hostility towards them."

"Syria has always maintained a friendly attitude towards the Turkish people, however we do oppose the Turkish regime, due to its problematic behavior around our mutual border," he clarified.
In parallel, the Syrian President declared that his country "was not responsible for suspending dialogue with Ankara."

"The lack of negotiation channels between the two countries have a negative impact on bilateral relations," he said and noted that "investigations continue on the shelling of Turkish borders."
The Syrian president also stressed Turkey to combine forces with his country in order to investigate the Syrian mortar attack on Turkey, suggesting rebel forces were behind the incident.
"Are the rebels responsible for the incident? Or did the Syrian Army missed its target?" al-Assad wondered.

Meanwhile, he called for a joint Turkish-Syrian investigation as he explained that the matter needs cooperation from both sides.

"Let the two countries governments in cooperation with experts work on this issue to reveal the truth," the Syrian President said.

Source: al-Intiqad, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org