ANKARA (Sputnik) — The Turkish General Staff said Wednesday one of its soldiers was killed near the Syrian border by sniper fire from Kurdish-controlled northern Syria. According to the Turkish military, the Turkish soldier was killed while on combat duty near the town of Reyhanlı in Hatay Province by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) forces.
"Because, according to our agreements with Russia the territory under rebel control falls under Russian responsibility in the ceasefire issue, we have invited the Russian charge d'affaires and expressed our serious concern to him," Muftuoglu said at a briefing.
The Hatay province is located on the Turkish border with Syria.
The news comes as Russia and Turkey are the guarantors of the nationwide Syrian ceasefire that came into force on December 30; it has been holding up in general, despite continued reports of violations. The UN Security Council passed a resolution in December supporting the effort.
