Turkey 'closely watching' Russian troop movements in Syria

Turkey is "closely watching" Russian military activity in Syria near its border, a government source in Ankara said on Friday, following reports that Russian servicemen had been deployed in the Syrian border town of Qamishli.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had said that Russia had sent a number of engineers to Qamishli to strengthen the runway and increase the capacity of an airport just south of the town.

Russia's reported move into Qamishli comes as Ankara and Moscow are experiencing their biggest crisis in years over the shooting down of a Russian war plane by Turkey on 24 November.

Observers have said that Russia, which has for years been at loggerheads with Turkey over the Syrian conflict, may want to refit the airport as a Russian base, as happened in Hmeimim in Latakia province.

Qamishli lies just south of the Turkish border town of Nusaybin.

"I can say that Turkey is closely watching every military movement on its borders and especially the border with Syria," the government source told AFP, asking not to be named.

Tugrul Turkes, the Turkish deputy prime minister, said in parliament on Thursday that he did not see any threat in Russia's movements on the border.

"We are aware of Russia's movements. Russia's movements in Qamishli cannot constitute a threat for Turkey, which is a member of NATO."

But the Turkish army has already reinforced security by digging trenches in the border zone, the Hurriyet newspaper said. Top Russian military officials, including figures from the GRU military intelligence service, had already visited Qamishli, it added.

The Kremlin and Iran are the chief remaining allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad whose removal from power Turkey sees as the key to ending Syria's almost five-year civil war.

Turkey has repeatedly expressed alarm about Russia's deployment of troops to Syria which Moscow says is aimed at fighting the Islamic State (IS) group but is widely seen as consolidating the Syrian government's position.

Nabi Avci, the Turkish education minister who also spoke in parliament, claimed Russia's forces in Qamishli were working with both the Syrian government and Kurdish fighters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Kurdish groups have established control over much of the northern Syrian border region in the past months after pushing out IS.

But Ankara accuses the PYD of being the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and has been alarmed by an apparent tightening of ties between Moscow and the Kurds.

“Turkey is throwing the dice, Russia is playing chess,” said Huseyin Bagci, a professor of international relations at Middle East Technical University, speaking to the Today's Zaman newspaper.

“A person who throws a dice cannot be certain of its outcome. However, a chess player thinks four, maybe five moves ahead and plays accordingly."

“The West has lifted sanctions against Iran and relations are thawing. Russia is trying to gain an upper hand in the outcome of the Syrian conflict. Turkey will be singled out by these countries, it will become more ostracised.”