As he slammed the Israeli raids on Syria as “unacceptable”, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused President Bashar al-Assad of using the Zionist aggression against Damascus as “pretext.”

As he slammed the Israeli raids on Syria as “unacceptable”, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused President Bashar al-Assad of using the Zionist aggression against Damascus as “pretext.”

"No excuse can justify this operation," Erdogan told ruling party lawmakers in parliament, two days following the Israeli airstrikes on Damascus.

The Turkish PM said the Israeli attacks were a "golden opportunity" for President Assad to “cover up massacres of opponents.”

"Assad is trying to cover up what happened at Banias by using the Israeli raids as a pretext," said the Turkish premier, referring to an alleged crackdown by Syrian troops in the Mediterranean city.