Turkey’s President and Foreign Minister both condemned the Syrian regime and its Russian backer for their conduct in the war, accusing them of not combating terrorism in Syria and massacring civilians.



“He [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] is a killer who has murdered 600,000 of his citizens,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said of President Assad on Thursday while in the US attending a funeral prayer for former world boxing champion Muhammad Ali.



“He is actually involved in state terrorism I believe that the rest of the world should isolate Assad. And I believe the ones who are helping him are actually aiding him in his crimes,” Erdogan added, likely referring to Russia who has supported Assad and intervened militarily in the Syrian conflict to support him.



Erdogan’s Foreign Minnister Mevlut Cavusoglu condemned Russia’s conduct in Syria.



“It is meaningful that Russia violated the truce in Syria more than any other country, even though it is the co-chair of the International Syria Support Group,” the foreign minister said at a joint press conference in the Polish capital Warsaw.



“It [Russia] keeps targeting schools, hospitals, and civilians. It is not targeting Daesh [Islamic State]. This is the real problem,” Cavusoglu added. “Their purpose is to keep oppressive regimes, and strengthen their own presence.”





The strong Turkish remarks come a day after Syria, Russian and Iranian defense ministers in Tehran where they said they will continue to fight terrorism in Syria, particularly the Islamic State (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra.





The three defense ministers said they also fought foreign “invasions and intervention” in Syria.