Syria: Turkey threatens Assad with retaliation - the situation worsens

The situation is getting worse for people in northwestern Syria. Turkey has therefore announced itself in Moscow on Monday.

• The civil war in Syria has been raging for nine years.
• The followers of ruler Bashar al-Assad are getting more and more headwaters.
  
• Meanwhile, tensions between Turkey and Russia are growing .

Turkey has threatened retaliation for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if government forces in the contested Idlib province continue to attack the Turkish army. "The regime needs to know that: Turkey * will have no borders there should such attacks continue on our troops," said Vice President Fuat Oktay on Saturday on Turkish television. This message was also given to the Russians. While Ankara supports Islamist rebels in the region in Syria, Moscow is at the side of the Syrian ruler Assad in the conflict.

Syria: Conflict between Turkey and Russia is coming to a head

Nevertheless, Turkey and Russia * want to discuss the critical situation in the contested Syrian province of Idlib in Moscow early next week. "Our delegation will travel to Moscow on Monday," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. A Russian delegation had previously been to Ankara. If the diplomatic efforts are not fruitful, Ankara is also prepared to take the necessary measures. Attacks by Syrian troops are unacceptable.

Syria: 800,000 people on the run https://t.co/BdSwei48Q4 #Syria #Idlib

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, however, called on Russia to end the fighting in the Idlib province. "We are very concerned that there will be a humanitarian catastrophe if the struggles that exist do not end," he said in Munich after meeting with Cavusoglu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Moscow had to use its influence on the Syrian government to stop the fighting. “Otherwise, we expect even more people to leave the region. This is something that nobody can be interested in. "

Syrian fighters with Turkish support are walking through a village on the Aleppo border.

© AAREF WATAD / AFP

Maas recently described the situation in the Syrian Idlib as a “humanitarian catastrophe” and named Turkey and Russia as jointly responsible. He spoke to the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" about Syria *: "That mainly triggers anger and anger in me. These attacks must end. There was a Turkish-Russian de-escalation agreement there. Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing the opposite. "

Syria: EU countries alarmed

After a meeting of the UN Security Council, several EU countries had already sharply criticized the situation in Idlib on Friday. Germany, France, Poland, Estonia and Belgium said in New York that they were “deeply alarmed” because of the escalating conflict.

Marvin Ziegele with dpa

* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.

Rubric list picture: © AAREF WATAD / AFP