MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, several anti-Russian rallies were held near the buildings of the Russian diplomatic missions in both Istanbul and Ankara. The protests had been reportedly caused by the situation in the crisis-torn Syrian city of Aleppo.
"Undoubtedly, Turkish authorities, the government, the Ministry of the Interior… were aware of the plans to hold these manifestations… I think that these rallies were not simply permitted but organized by some representative of the authorities," Ali Ozgunduz said.
The Turkish politician said that many participants of the rallies were members of radical jihadist groups, which showed the tendency of the Turkish government to support certain branches of Syrian radical organizations when it suited the government's interests.
Both Russia and Turkey are involved in the ongoing conflict in Syria, where the government is fighting various militant and extremist groups striving to overthrow it, but, while Russia has provided assistance to the government forces at their request, Turkey's Euphrates Shield military operation has been denounced as invasion by Damascus.
On Wednesday, the Russian reconciliation center said that the Syrian government army was controlling over 98 percent of the territory of Aleppo, with militants present in less than 1 square mile of the city's territory.
