As the Turkish administration prepares for a new military campaign into Syria to occupy further territories controlled by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that Turkey’s involvement in Syria is understandable.

Lavrov said in a TV interview on Russia Today Arabic on Wednesday that the US ‘creates quasi-states’ in Syria and ‘encourages separatism’ by ‘exploiting the sentiments of the Kurds’, and that Turkey’s involvement in such a situation is understandable.

“There are still military units of states that were never invited there. The US military for example, which has occupied a large part of the eastern bank of the Euphrates, is openly creating quasi-states, directly encouraging separatism, and exploiting the sentiments of a part of the Kurdish population,” he said.

“Problems arise between various entities that represent the Iraqi and Syrian Kurds. Naturally all of this contributes to tensions in this part of the region. Turkey is understandably getting involved as well,” he continued.

He added: “We speak with the Kurds. We have channels of communication with all of them. And we encourage them to look more closely at recent examples of how the United States promises things and how they keep these promises.”

Iran: ‘Turkey’s military action will complicate the situation’

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, however, expressed strong opposition to any Turkish military action in Syria.

Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday:

“Such action will violate the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, and will complicate the situation and escalate tensions.”

Khatibzadeh added that they understand Turkey’s security concerns and believe that the only way to alleviate those concerns is dialogue, respect for bilateral agreements with neighbours, as well as the agreements reached within the framework of the Astana negotiations.

He noted that developments in recent years have shown that military action does not help resolve problems but will lead to humanitarian consequences and complicate the situation in the region.