Ankara has repeatedly expressed concern over attacks on Turkmen

Turkey has repeatedly expressed concern over the attacks on the Turkmens, a Sunni Muslim minority who many Turks regard as their kith and kin.

Like the Ankara government, the Turkmens oppose the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

Fighting in the Latakia governorate, in western Syria on the border with Turkey, has intensified following last month’s Russian military intervention.

Russian warplanes are backing an offensive by Syrian government forces, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian Shia Muslim units, Turkmen fighters say.

Turkey’s foreign ministry said Turkmen villages had also been subjected to “heavy bombardment” by Russian planes in the Bayir-Bucak area of northwest Syria, close to Turkey’s Yaylada border crossing in Hatay province.

Fleeing villages

Turkish media reports say Turkmens from 50 villages were forced to flee the Gimam area of Latakia governorate last week.

There were also reports of Turkmen refugees fleeing towards Turkey from Syria’s Hatay province.

Ömer Abdullah, commander of the Turkmen sultan Abdülhamit Brigade, called on Ankara to intervene to halt the month-long offensive, the Cihan news agency reported.

– (Guardian service)