Turkish FM meets Kerry over Russia's Syria strikes

NEW YORK

Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu held face-to-face talks with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry on Thursday amid escalating tensions between Russia and the West over Syria.

Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said the closed-door meeting in New York focused on recent developments in Syria, including Russia's airstrikes to bolster the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The pair also renewed a commitment to combat Daesh and other terrorist groups, sources said.

Thursday's meeting came a day after the Russian military carried out its first air strikes in western Syria prompting reports of civilian deaths during the operations.

According to the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed opposition alliance, the air raids resulted in the deaths of 36 civilians, including five children. The areas targeted by Russia were free of any Daesh or al-Qaida presence, said the group's chief, Khaled Khoja.

"What is important is Russia has to not be engaged in any activities against anybody but ISIL [Daesh]," Kerry told reporters prior to his meeting with his Turkish counterpart.

"That's clear. We have made that very clear", he added.

Also on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied his country’s airstrikes were aimed at non-Daesh positions and said Russia was targeting only the same terror groups as the international anti-Daesh coalition led by the U.S.