Turkey not convinced with Russian denial for military base in Afrin

Russia's Defense Ministry has denied reports that Moscow is building a military base in Afrin, but Ankara is not convinced by Russia's comments on the matter, even as it has shied away from publicly responding to Moscow over its developing alliance with Syrian Kurds.

Russia did not inform Turkey about such a military deployment, a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News. Turkish intelligence found out that a Russian convoy of four vehicles arrived in Afrin through the Menagh region to the south of Azez, according to the official. 

Russian officials denied reports on March 20 that it was constructing a base in the area held by the People's Protection Units (YPG), saying it was constructing a center to foster reconciliation in Syria.

But the current peace monitoring centers, which were established at the Hmeimim air base in Syria for Russia and in Ankara for Turkey as part of a Dec. 30, 2016, cease-fire deal, are capable of monitoring the situation on the ground, another Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News, underlining that there were currently no clashes in Afrin requiring a monitoring mission. 

Turkey has not yet established a cease-fire monitoring center in Syria due to security concerns, the official said. 

The Russian deployment might be aimed at averting any clashes between Syrian opposition groups and the YPG's political wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), according to assessments in Ankara.

Turkey earlier expressed its unease to Moscow at the Russian military's cooperation with the YPG, the official said.

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