Russia awaits Turkey’s explanation on sarin gas, bomb plot

DAMASCUS, (ST)_ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Friday that his country is expecting an official explanation from Ankara over Syrian militant al-Nusra’s possession of sarin gas.

According to Cihan News Agency, seven members of the al-Nusra group were detained on Wednesday after Turkish police found sarin gas, which was reportedly going to be used in a bomb attack, during a search of the suspects’ homes, Turkish media have reported.

 “We look forward to receiving full information from our Turkish colleagues over the matter. The situation is very serious. It seems like the ones who speak about chemical weapons continue to play interesting games. All the details about the matter need to be investigated,” said Lavrov while speaking at a press conference in Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich has also stated that they are following the matter closely, adding that Russia would never accept the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

 “The Syrian government had promised several times that chemical weapons would never be used in internal conflicts. Russia has taken all the necessary guarantees from the Syrian government,” said Lukashevich.

Newspapers claimed on Thursday that two kilograms of sarin gas, which is usually used for making bombs and was banned by the UN in 1991, had been found in the homes of suspects detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersin.

Twelve suspects were caught by the police on Monday. The reports claimed that the al-Nusra members had been planning a bomb attack in Adana on Thursday but the attack was averted when the police caught the suspects. Along with the sarin gas, the police seized a number of handguns, grenades, bullets and documents during their search. Five of the suspects were released later on Thursday.

In another incident in Adana, the police received intelligence that a bomb-laden vehicle had entered Adana, the bombs being the same type used in a recent attack in Hatay’s Reyhanlı town, the Taraf daily reported on Thursday.

M. Wassouf