- Title: Putin says Turkey's Syria operation may allow militants to escape
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN (OCTOBER 11, 2019) (RUSSIAN POOL) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SPEAKING AT CIS LEADERS SUMMIT (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING: "There are areas where ISIS combatants are concentrated. So far they have been guarded by the Kurdish military. Now, as the Turkish army enters the area, Kurds leave these camps, where ISIS combatants are kept, they can just run away. I am not sure how fast the Turkish army can take the situation under control. CIS SUMMIT IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING: It is a real threat to us all. Where will they head? Through Turkey, or take another way (OVER PRESIDENT OF BELARUS ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO AND PRIME MINISTER OF ARMENIA NIKOL PASHINYAN LISTENING) or deeper into Syria, to the territories nobody controls (CONTINUES IN SHOT) than to Iraq to move somewhere else, other countries of the region. We have to understand that, know that and mobilise the resources of our intelligence services to prevent this new-emerging threat." TURKMENISTAN PRESIDENT GURBANGULY BERDIMUHAMEDOW AT MEETING
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 13:49
- Keywords: Russia Syria military operation ISIS militants in Syria crisis in Syria
- Location: ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN
- City: ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN
- Country: Turkmenistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0NM347
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday (October 11) that Islamic State militants held in northeast Syria could escape as a result of a Turkish military operation there.
The Turkish offensive against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in the northeast of Syria opens one of the biggest new fronts in years in an eight-year-old civil war that has drawn in global powers.
Russia emerged a leading power broker in Syria after it launched a military intervention there in 2015, turning the tide of the war in favour of its ally in Damascus, President Bashar al-Assad.
(Production: Dmitry Turlyun) - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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