BALADI NEWS
Turkish military hit dozens of Syrian regime targets, Monday, after eight Turkish military personnel were killed by shelling in Idlib in northwest Syria, where fighting threatens to test ties between Ankara and Moscow.
Turkey and Russia are on opposing sides in the fighting in Idlib and, though they work together elsewhere in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Russian officials had been told they should “stand aside” in the conflict around Idlib.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkish forces had hit 54 targets in Idlib in retaliation and “neutralised” 76 Syrian regime soldiers, the state-owned Anadolu agency reported.
He later told Turkish media that seven Turkish soldiers and one civilian working for the Turkish military had died in the shelling, and added that 13 others who were wounded were in good condition.
Erdoğan had earlier said the retaliatory operations included the use of F-16 fighter jets and responded to what Turkey called intense shelling of its troops in Idlib, the last big rebel stronghold after nearly nine years of war in Syria.
Bashar al-Assad’s forces, backed by Russian airpower, have made large advances in Idlib, prompting Turkey to warn it may launch a military operation there unless the fighting is halted.
“We are determined to continue our operations for the security of our country, people and our brothers in Idlib. Those who question our determination will soon understand they made a mistake,” Erdoğan said in Istanbul before flying to Kyiv.
Speaking later in the Ukrainian capital, he said developments in Idlib had become “unmanageable”.
The Syrian Observatory, a war monitor based in Britain, said 13 members of the Syrian regime forces had been killed in Turkish shelling. A Syrian state TV correspondent said there had been no casualties among regime forces.
Source: EURACTIVE.