President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday blasted as “laughable” Russia’s accusation that Turkey was actively preparing to invade Syria.

“I find this Russian statement laughable… rather it is Russia that is currently engaged in an invasion of Syria,” Erdogan said, quoted by the state-run Anatolia news agency.

Russia on Thursday had claimed Turkey was planning to invade Syria, saying it had spotted troops and military equipment on the border with the war-torn country.

“We have serious grounds to suspect Turkey is in intensive preparations for an armed invasion of the territory of a sovereign state — the Syrian Arab Republic,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement.

AFP