ISTANBUL: Several hundred Turkish and Syrian protesters held an anti-Russia demonstration in Istanbul on Saturday against intensified Russian and regime bombardment in Syria’s rebel bastion of Idlib.
The protesters -- mostly Syrians living in Turkey -- gathered close to the Russian consulate in Istanbul, shouting "Murderer Putin, get out of Syria!", referring to the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since mid-December, regime forces and their Russian allies have heightened bombardment on the southern edge of the final major opposition-held pocket of Syria, eight years into the country’s devastating war.
The latest violence has displaced more than 235,000 people and killed scores of civilians, despite an August ceasefire deal and international calls for a de-escalation.
Protesters in Istanbul, including women with their children, held pictures of victims of the attacks, while some brandished a banner that read: "Russia is killing our people and children and the world is not doing anything."
"What does Russia want from us? Kids, wives are dying. People are dying," Syrian demonstrator Ahmed Marwan, 24, told AFP.
"We aren’t terrorists, we are humans. We came to this country to live. Leaving your homeland isn’t easy but we live in this pain. Enough already." Turkey is home to around five million refugees, among which 3.7 million are Syrians. "We are here to protest this massacre going on in Syria," Turkish protester Gulden Sonmez said.
