İlker Girit
27 November 2015•Update: 27 November 2015
ISTANBUL
Russia’s bombardment of Turkmen-populated areas of northern Syria have sparked protests in Istanbul.
Around 400 people demonstrated the attacks in the Fatih area of Turkey’s largest city on Friday afternoon.
Gathering after Friday prayers, the Ozgur-Der Association gathered supporter at Fatih Mosque before marching to nearby Sarachane Park.
The demonstration was led by an Istanbul-based human-rights NGO called the Free Thought and Education Rights Association; the group has organized similar protests before.
Within the mosque’s courtyard, the crowd shouted slogans such as ‘Killer Putin get out of Syria’.
Several of the group brandished flags of the anti-Bashar al-Assad Free Syrian Army.
Friday’s demonstration comes days after the publication of a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights which claimed that 263 civilians have killed by Russian forces in Syria so far.
Tensions between Ankara and Moscow have also risen since an incident on Tuesday when two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on aerial patrol near the Syrian border intercepted an unidentified aircraft.
When it intruded into Turkish airspace the aircraft was warned about the violation 10 times within five minutes before it was shot down.
