DAMASCUS (SANA via Ruptly) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “thief” during a State TV interview on Thursday. He went on to say that Turkey is an “enemy” that is “occupying Afrin” and “supporting terrorism”.

“I said that he was a thief, he has stolen everything that belongs to Syria from day one, he is a thief. I am not insulting him, I am describing him, it is an adjective”, stated Assad, saying that Erdogan “steals factories, field and lands” and “lies to everyone”.

Joint Russian-Turkish patrols, as laid out in an agreement between the Turkish and Russian governments in Sochi, began in north-eastern Syria on Friday. On Wednesday, Erdogan warned that Turkey would resume its military operation if Kurdish forces do not fully withdraw from the so-called 30-kilometre “safe zone”.