KIEV: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday accused Russia of acting as a “terrorist organisation” in Syria and vowed to deliver a robust response.

“If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organisation and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response,” Mr Davutoglu said through an official translator during a visit to Kiev.

“Unfortunately, barbaric attacks on civilians are continuing in Syria and these attacks are being waged by both Russia and terrorist groups,” Mr Davutoglu said.

“Russia and other terrorist organisations – first and foremost, the (militant) Islamist State (group) in Syria – are responsible for numerous crimes against humanity,” he added.

Tensions between Russia and Turkey have soared over Moscow’s backing of Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Russia’s intense air campaign against what it claims are `terrorist’ targets in its allied Middle Eastern state.

Turkey has long backed Mr Assad’s ouster and like other western nations accuses Russia of predominantly bombing Syrian rebel groups backed by Washington and its allies instead of the IS.

Mr Assad’s forces have most recently used Russian air support to move ever closer to the rebel stronghold of Aleppo in northern Syria.

The resulting refugee flood towards Turkey has put renewed pressure on Ankara to open its border with Syria temporarily – a move Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has until now been unwilling to take.

Prime Minister Davutoglu further slammed the Syrian peace talks that were halted after only a few days this month in Geneva as “diplomatic theatre” for which “the international community will ultimately bear responsibility”.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2016