Kemal Kilicdaroglu, of the Turkey's center-left Republican People�s Party (CHP), said that Syrian rebels had been known to switch sides and join ISIL extremists after receiving military training in US-run camps.

ANKARA (Sputnik)�� Turkey and Russia could build closer ties if they combined their efforts to�dismantle the Islamic State (ISIL) militant group in�Syria, the leader of�the Main Opposition in�the Turkish parliament said Thursday.

"Cooperation in�the fight against�ISIL could be a foundation for�this," Kemal Kilicdaroglu, of�the center-left Republican People�s Party (CHP), told RIA Novosti.

Relations between�Russia and Turkey have been strained due to�different perceptions of�Syria's future. Moscow wants Syrian President Bashar Assad to�take part in�the national peace talks and stay on�during its political transition, while Ankara wants him to�step down�immediately.

Turkey has been assisting a US-led coalition which has been bombing ISIL positions in�Syria, providing coalition forces with�logistical support and arming what the West terms the moderate Syrian opposition.

Kilicdaroglu, whose party is the main opposition force in�Turkey�s unicameral parliament, opposes weapons deliveries to�Syrian insurgents. He told RIA Novosti that Syrian rebels had been known to�switch sides and join ISIL extremists after�receiving military training in�US-run camps.

He said the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) policy in�Syria was "utopic." "This policy has damaged our national interests and deepened the humanitarian catastrophe in�Syria, a country with�which Turkey has the longest common border."

The opposition leader said he believed that this policy needed to�be changed.

Turkey will hold a snap parliamentary election this Sunday. The country has been run by�a caretaker government since�late August after�the parties that won seats in�the June election failed to�form a coalition.

By Sputnik News