Ankara hits back over Macron comments on Russia-Turkey split

Turkey on 16 April hit back at French President Emmanuel Macron over his comments that the weekend's air strikes against the Syrian regime had driven a wedge between Ankara and its increasingly close ally Moscow.

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag insisted that Turkish policy on Syria was independent of other nations, as signs grow of Western discomfort over Ankara's alliance with Iran and Russia on Syria.

Bozdag said: ‘Turkey's Syria policy is not a policy of being on the same side or being opposed to another country. Whoever defends what is right, we are on their side.’

France, the US and Britain launched strikes against regime targets on 14 April, following an alleged chemical attack blamed by the West on the Damascus regime that reportedly killed dozens.

Macron said: ‘With these strikes and this intervention, we separated the Russians and the Turks on this issue... the Turks condemned the chemical strike and supported the operation that we conducted.’

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 14 April welcomed the strikes, which he described as ‘appropriate’ and strongly condemned the alleged chemical attack.

Bozdag's comments follow tension between Ankara and Paris after Macron offered to mediate between Turkey and outlawed Kurdish militants, an offer furiously rejected by Erdogan.

But Bozdag insisted Turkey's longstanding opposition to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had not changed.

Bozdag said: ‘Until now, has the policy put forward by Turkey changed? No. Has different policies to Iran and Russia.’

While Turkey has repeatedly called for Assad's ouster, it has been working closely with regime allies Tehran and Moscow in the Astana peace process, albeit with only moderate success.

Earlier in April, Erdogan hosted a summit on Syria with Iran and Russia in Ankara, the second such meeting after trilateral talks in November in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Bozdag said: ‘Turkey is neither chasing the same goals as Iran, Russia nor is it a country chasing the same objectives as the US.’