On the same day, Lavrov said that neither Russia, nor Syria have anything to do with the attack. However, Turkish media translated the remark wrongly, attributing the statement on the Syrian involvement in the attack to the minister.
"It has been noticed that during the press conference in Alanya on December 1, which was attended by the foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Sergey Lavrov, there was an error in translation. Lavrov said: 'Neither Russia nor Syria is involved in November 24 attack that killed the Turkish military personnel.' There was no statement 'the attack was committed by the Syrian regime.' In order to resolve this serious error, which occurred because of an incorrect translation, we ask the distinguished members of the media to make amendments to their texts," the ministry's statement obtained by RIA Novosti.
On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed the Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarabulus and the surrounding area of Daesh terrorists. As Jarabulus was recaptured, the joint forces of Ankara, the coalition and Syrian opposition groups continued the offensive southwest.