EU's Mogherini: War between Russia and Turkey could be on the horizon
"We risk a hot war among different actors than the one we always think of," EU foreign policy chief warns says in discussion on situation in Syria.
By REUTERSEU's Mogherini warns of Russia-Turkey war
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Tuesday warned against the risk of "hot war" between Russia and Turkey in the Middle East."We are always referring to Syria as a proxy war among regional actors. This risks to become something bigger than this. I'm not thinking of a cold war. No, we risk a hot war among different actors than the one we always think of. Not necessarily Russia and the United States, but Russia and Turkey, could be. And, as Europeans, we have a clear interest in trying to contain and scale down the tensions," Mogherini said during a debate at the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.Mogherini's comments came despite the United States and Russia announcing plans for a cessation of hostilities in Syria, excluding Islamic State and Nusra Front militants, that would take effect starting on Saturday.Turkey said on Tuesday that it welcomes the plan but is not optimistic about a positive outcome to talks on a political transition.Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said it had reservations concerning actions which Russian forces could take against Syria's moderate opposition and civilians.Turkey, opposed to the government in neighboring Syria and worried about advances by Kurdish militants in Syrian territory, last week had to deny a media report that it had already sent troops over the border.Russian warplanes entered Syria's increasingly complex, five-year-old conflict at the end of September, backing the forces of their ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, and bombing rebel positions.