The fighting in the Syrian province of Idlib continues. Another soldier from Turkey has now been killed. Turkey had previously shot down a Syrian military plane.
Istanbul (dpa) - Another Turkish soldier was killed by artillery fire in the Syrian province of Idlib. The incident happened on Monday, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.
As part of the offensive in Idlib that started last weekend, Turkey also shot down a Syrian L-39 military aircraft.
An airstrike in the region around the city of Idlib had killed at least 34 Turkish soldiers last week. Ankara blamed the Syrian government and launched a military offensive. The Turkish and Syrian military had already had military clashes before. Since the beginning of February, more than 50 Turkish soldiers have been killed in Idlib.
The Turkish army supports rebels, including Islamist groups, in the region and has set up several observation posts there. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is supported by Russia.
Erdogan wants to prevent further refugees from entering Turkey due to the fighting in Idlib. Since the beginning of the civil war in the neighboring country in 2011, Turkey has taken in around 3.6 million refugees from Syria.
Erdogan announced on Saturday that Turkey had opened the borders to the EU for the refugees in the country. Since then, thousands of migrants have made their way to the Greek border. Greek security forces repeatedly used stun grenades and tear gas to push people back.
A refugee pact with the EU in 2016 actually stipulates that Turkey will stop illegal migration. Greece can also send back all migrants who have illegally translated via Turkey to the Greek islands since the end of March 2016 and have received no asylum. In return, the EU has pledged to legally accept another for every Syrian returned. Turkey receives additional financial support totaling six billion euros for the refugees. The EU also promised faster visa liberalization.
Ministry of Defense message on Twitter
Tweet about the shot plane