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By Gunay Hasanova

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus described Ankara’s Syria policy as “a source of many sufferings for Turkey today.”

“No country, us included, has been able to produce a valid policy for a solution in Syria. I have been talking about this for years. I wish a valid perspective for peace could have been developed before. God willing, a solution will be found soon that the people of Syria could accept, not by imposition from outside. There is currently such a process going on, and at this point relations with Russia are important,” Hurriyet reported citing Kurtulmus.

The deputy premier’s remarks become the boldest self-criticism of Turkey’s Syria policy so far by the highest ranking person in Ankara.

Kurtulmus went on to say that the government of Turkey, unlike Iran and Russia, consider Bashar-al-Assad and his policy as the main culprit for the Syria chaos.

Previously, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the Syrian crisis can be resolved only by sincere cooperation at the international level, stressing on the role of Russia to achieve a permanent solution to the problem.

During Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to St. Petersburg on August 9, Turkey and Russia agreed to establish a joint committee on Syria; members of the Turkish committee travelled to Russia later. The committee consists of military and intelligence officers and diplomats from both Russia and Turkey.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The "Islamic State" (aka IS, ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups are the most active ones in Syria.

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