Turkish Ambassador to Russia Rules Out Ankara's Ground Operation in Syria

Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardim on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of Ankara's ground operation in Syria.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the ambassador, speculations have been going around on the subject of Ankara allegedly mulling deploying troops to Syria, however, they have nothing to do with the actual state of things.

"The situation in the Middle East is very complicated. There are several speculations that have nothing in common with the reality. I can definitely say that any ground operation of the Turkish Armed Forces is out of the question, this issue is not on the agenda," Yardim told reporters, answering a corresponding question.

Turkey is planning to deploy US rocket launchers on its border with Syria, with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying earlier that the American-suplied High Mobility Artiller Rocket Systems (HIMARS) are to be operational within weeks, according to Deutsche Welle.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues his brutal crackdown on Kurdish communities in the country’s southeast and neighboring in Syria, shelling local Kurdish settlments across the border.

Syria isn't the only country whose residents have been shelled by the Turkish Army. In March, the Turkish Air Force sent six warplanes to bomb villages in northern Iraq, suspecting PKK members hiding in these places.