Syria, Russia deliberately targeted Turkish troops: envoy

<p style="text-align: left;">Radar tracking shows that Syrian and Russian forces were found to be flying in formation during the February 27 airstrike that killed at least 36 Turkish soldiers, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations Feridun Sinirlioglu said.

There was no military traffic around the Turkish convoy, as such, &ldquo;the logical conclusion is that they were deliberately targeted,&rdquo; Sinirlioglu said at Friday&rsquo;s U.N. Security Council meeting.

The attack continued despite Turkey issuing a warning after the first round of fire, Sinirlioglu said.

A Russian foreign ministry statement earlier said Turkey had not informed Russia of its forces&rsquo; location, and the airstrike that killed Turkish soldiers was targeting terrorist groups in the area.

Turkey will retaliate &ldquo;any provocation and harassment,&rdquo; and won&rsquo;t hesitate to use force, the U.N. envoy said, regardless of the country&rsquo;s &ldquo;utmost restraint to avoid a direct military confrontation.&rdquo;

A Russian delegation was in Ankara for meetings on the day of the airstrike, Sinirlioglu said. &ldquo;We told the Russian party once again that we won&rsquo;t be abandoning our observation points and that we would continue with military reinforcements.&rdquo;

&ldquo;It is time for (the U.N. Security Council) to put a stop to the regime&rsquo;s war crimes and reckless behavior that directly threatens international peace and security,&rdquo; Sinirlioglu said.

Reporter&rsquo;s code: 50101

News Code 97509

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