The interview came shortly after the Russian Defense Ministry presented a video proof of Syrian civilian areas being shelled from a Turkish border post.
The bombardment could have been caused by a whole array of factors, Papadopoulos said, recalling that over the past few months, the Syrian Army, supported by the Russian air strikes, has rapidly advanced along the Syrian-Turkish border, liberating areas earlier seized by militants from terrorist groups such as Daesh and the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front.
#СИРИЯ Видеосвидетельство провокаций со стороны Турции: артобстрел сирийских насел.пунктов с турецкой погранзаставыhttps://t.co/40Ng7DFO0G
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) 1 февраля 2016
According to him, the Turkish government could order the military to bomb areas where units of the Syrian Army and Kurdish People's Protection Units are stationed, in a show of intimidation aimed to prevent the Syrian forces and the Kurds from liberating their own territory.
"The shelling can also be seen as a provocative step by Turkey. Apparently, Ankara is trying to prod the Syrian troops to retaliate in order to find a pretext for a military intervention in Syria," Papadopoulos said.
Damascus has, meanwhile, demanded that Ankara should stop violating the sovereignty of Syria and respect international laws, media reports said.
"The Syrian government sees such actions as a direct violation of international law and a crime against Syrian civilians. The government has demanded an end to violations of Syria's sovereignty and the observation of international laws," RIA Novosti quoted the Syrian authorities' statement as saying.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, for his part, that the ministry expects an early explanation from NATO, the Pentagon and Turkish Armed Forces on the incident. He recalled in this regard that the US was quick to react to Ankara's allegations that the Russian fighter jet Su-34 had violated Turkish airspace during its operations in Syria.
