Kurds Warn Turkey of ‘Big War’ With Russia If Troops Enter Syria
- Russian aircraft backing Kurdish offensive in northern Syria
- Kurds promised federal status in Syria, envoy in Moscow says
A Kurdish fighter handles a weapon in Tal Abyad, Syria.
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Russia has promised to protect Kurdish fighters in Syria in case of a ground offensive by Turkey, a move that would lead to a “big war,” the Syrian group’s envoy to Moscow said in an interview on Wednesday.
“We take this threat very seriously because the ruling party in Turkey is a party of war,” Rodi Osman, head of the Syrian Kurds’ newly-opened representative office said in Kurdish via a Russian interpreter. “Russia will respond if there is an invasion. This isn’t only about the Kurds, they will defend the territorial sovereignty of Syria.”