Syria questions Turkish "war on terror" intentions

Syria rejects the attempts of Turkey to portray itself as a victim of terrorism after all of the support Ankara has rendered to the Jihadi groups in Syria, Syrian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

"The Syrian government rejects the attempts of the Turkish regime to portray itself as a victim who is defending himself from terrorism at a time everyone knows what this regime has done in providing all kinds of support to the terrorist groups," the ministry said in a statement, which came against the backdrop of the Turkey's recent declaration of joining the battles against the Islamic State (IS) militants in northern Syria.

The ministry charged that Ankara has violated the resolutions of the UN Security Council regarding countering terrorism, adding that Turkey has harbored and trained terrorists and backed them up with fire and artillery.

"Had Turkey and the neighboring countries abided by the anti-terror UN resolution, 70 percent of the crisis factors in Syria would have been overcome," the ministry said.

"Turkey has a direct responsibility for the shedding of the Syrian blood and the humanitarian suffering of millions of Syrians inside and outside Syria by its support to the terrorist groups," the ministry said in the first official response to the Turkish battles against IS in northern Syria.

The ministry further questioned the true intentions of Turkey, saying that "...better come late than never, but are the Turkish intentions honest about countering terrorism and the terrorist group, or they are taking this as a pretext to target the Kurds in Syria?" the ministry said.

Questioning the Turkish intensities is not strange, given the role Ankara has played in facilitating the flow of foreign militants into Syria through its borders throughout the long-running Syrian conflict. Endit