Turkish president slams Russia for backing Syrian president

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday again slammed Russia for backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as Ankara-Moscow ties remain strained over Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane last month.

"You cannot go anywhere by supporting a regime that has mercilessly killed 400,000 innocent people with conventional and chemical weapons," Erdogan told the press in Istanbul before departing for a visit to Saudi Arabia.

He also accused some countries of "adding fuel to fire" by backing Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing People's Protection Units (YPG).

Ankara considers both groups as terrorist organizations because of their links to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), fearing that they would establish an independent Kurdish state in the north of Syria.

"To turn a blind eye to the ethnic cleansing activities of the terrorist organizations like PYD and YPG, just because they say they are struggling against Daesh, is adding fuel to fire," Erdogan said, using the Arabic name of the Islamic State.

The United States and Russia are both supporting the two groups, as they are considered effective in fighting against the IS group.

Russia on Monday expanded its sanctions against Turkey as Ankara has refused to apologize over the downing of its war jet on Nov. 24.

Erdogan on Sunday also blamed Russia for using the civil war in Syria as a means to realize its aim to strengthen its presence in the East Mediterranean region.

Turkey insists on al-Assad's ouster for any political transition in war-torn Syria. Endit