Russia, Syria voice concerns over Turkey's actions

Syria and Russia expressed their concern over Turkey's military activities in northern Syria at the latest round of talks in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Alexander Lavrentyev, Russian lead negotiator, called on Turkey to refrain from any sort of large-scale land operations.

"A serious escalation of violence can happen not only in northwestern Syria, but in the whole of the Middle East", Lavrentyev added.

Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled that Ankara was ready to deploy tanks and heavy weaponry to northern Syria to attack Kurdish paramilitary forces in retaliation for a deadly November 13 bombing in Istanbul that Ankara blames on the militant groups.

Erdogan's comments followed a series of Turkish airstrikes on suspected Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria and Iraq on November 20.

Ayman Sousan, Syrian deputy foreign minister and lead Syrian government negotiator, echoed that position and said Turkey has repeatedly violated its own obligations within the Astana format.

The two-day gathering in Astana, the Kazakh capital, is the latest in a long line of diplomatic initiatives aimed at restoring peace and stability in Syria which has been wracked by civil war since 2011.