Colonel William A. Phillips

The 2017 Russian Air Force Al-Bab incident occurred when three Turkish soldiers were killed and 11 injured after a Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-22M attacked Turkish soldiers accidentally at al-Bab, Syria.[1]

Strike

A Tupolev Tu-22M flying a strike mission against a building in al-Bab, Syria suspected of containing Islamic State fighters, dropped a bomb on a Turkish army position. The bombing killed 3 Turkish troops and injured 11 others. Turkish military officials called the strike "accidental" and an incident of "friendly fire".[2][3] Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, said that the pilots had "guided by co-ordinates" given to them by Turkish personnel and that, "there should not have been Turkish troops at those co-ordinates." This charge was denied by Turkish officials.[4]

Aftermath

The Turkish General Staff announced that a Russian war plane targeted Turkish soldiers by accident. After the Russian Government confirmed the action, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and expressed his regret.[5]

Reactions

  •  Turkey - Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) head Devlet Bahçeli on February 12 slammed a Russian statement on the "friendly fire" in Syria's al-Bab on February 10 that led to the deaths of three Turkish soldiers, describing it as a shame.[6] “The issue is so important that it cannot be dodged with a condolence message,” said Republican People's Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a post on Twitter over the developments in Syria.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Daren Butler (2017-02-10). "Russian bombing mistake kills three Turkish soldiers in Syria". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. ^ "Russian air strike kills Turkish soldiers". BBC News. 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  3. ^ "Three Turkish soldiers killed by Russian military jet in Syria air strike". The Independent. 2017-02-09. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  4. ^ "Turkey denies Syria air strike 'mistake'". BBC News. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  5. ^ Ellis, Ralph (2017-02-09). "Russian airstrike mistakenly kills 3 Turkish soldiers in Syria". CNN. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  6. ^ "MHP head Bahçeli slams Russian statement on Turkey over 'friendly fire' in Syria". Hurriyet Daily News. 2017-02-12.
  7. ^ "Kılıçdaroğlu says Russia should do more than extend condolences". turkishminute.com. 2017-02-09.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Russian_Air_Force_Al-Bab_incident