Angela Merkel criticises Russia over Syria bombings

German chancellor Angela Merkel criticised Russia on Monday for bombings in Syria that have forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee, suggesting they were in violation of a UN Security Council resolution that Moscow signed in December.

Speaking during a visit to Ankara, Dr Merkel said she was “appalled” and “shocked” by the suffering in the Syrian city of Aleppo, which she blamed on bomb attacks originating primarily from the Russian side in support of the Syrian government.

“We must take another look at Resolution 2254 from December 18, the resolution of the UN Security Council that was supported by Russia,” Dr Merkel said.

“In the resolution the Security Council demands that all sides stop attacks on civilians and civilian targets without delay, and in particular the use of indiscriminate weapons, such as bomb attacks from the air. It is very specific in the resolution.”

At a news conference with Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Dr Merkel also called for immediate steps from Ankara to improve the situation for refugees in Turkey, saying the €3 billion pledged by the European Union must be deployed without delay.

“We need a visible first project. It doesn’t help a child from Syria that is a refugee here, or a Turkish class that has to share its room with Syrian refugees to say we have pledged €3 billion. They want to see a school in the city and fast,” Dr Merkel said.

“We need to work on this. We need to make sure there are not too many bureaucratic hurdles. Rather the refugees have to see the benefits quickly and without bureaucracy.”

Separately, at least nine civilians and 16 separatist fighters were killed as security forces tried to root out Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast, the army and the region’s biggest parliamentary party said on Monday. Security forces have imposed 24-hour curfews as part of efforts to drive out the PKK, which has declared autonomy and sealed off entire districts in some urban centres in the region. Parts of Cizre and the Sur district of Diyarbakir, the region’s largest city, have been under curfew since December. Ten of the 16 militants killed were in Cizre and six were in Sur, the military said on its website. That brought the death toll in the two places to 749 since December, it said.

Prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a joint news conference with the German chancellor said the operations in Cizre may draw to a close in the next few days. “It is obvious that [the PKK)] is implementing methods to destabilise cities in Turkey. In this regard, Cizre is a critical town, situated so close to the border, exploitable for weapons and terrorists to cross,” he said.

– (Reuters)