The situation is getting worse for civilians in the Syrian region of Idlib. Meanwhile, the Turkish president threatens again.
- The civil war in Syria has been raging for nine years.
- The followers of ruler Baschar al-Assad are getting more and more upper water.
- Meanwhile, tensions between Turkey and Russia are growing .
Update, February 19, 2020, 12.20 p.m .: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened an imminent military operation in the contested Syrian province of Idlib. "The Idlib operation is a matter of the moment," Erdogan said in Ankara on Wednesday. As with any military operation, you can strike at any time, said the Turkish president.
It was "the last days" for the "regime" to stop the aggression and to keep to the limits of the Sochi agreement. Turkey will not leave Idlib to the Syrian government and its supporters, he said. Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had previously stressed that a Turkish military operation would be the worst scenario.
Syria: Despite Erdogan's threat - offensive on Idlib continues
Update, February 18, 2020 , 2:40 p.m .: The crisis in northwest Syria has reached a "horrific new level", said UN emergency aid coordinator Mark Lowcock. People are traumatized and forced to sleep outside in freezing temperatures because the camps are full. Babies and small children died because of the cold, he said. The violence also affects health facilities, schools, residential areas and markets indiscriminately.
Ruler Bashar al-Assad announced that the army would free all of Syria from "terror" and "enemies". Recent successes did not mean the end of the war: "We pushed their noses into the ground as a prelude to a complete victory." Assad had previously said that his troops would only stop once they had taken over the whole of Syria.
Syria: Erdogan threatens Assad - he is unimpressed
Update, February 17th, 2020, 10:42 pm: Syria's ruler Bashar al-Assad is unimpressed by the Turkish threats of retaliation. Assad wants to continue the offensive on the last major rebel stronghold Idlib. The fight will continue "regardless of the empty phrases from the north," Assad said in a speech broadcast on Syrian state television on Monday evening.
At the same time, the government offensive is increasing humanitarian need. According to the UN, 900,000 people are now fleeing Assad forces and violence, most of them women and children.
An elderly woman carries a child through the Washukanni camp in northern Syria.
© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
Update, February 17, 2020, 2:00 p.m .: In the battle for Idlib , Syria's last large rebel area, the government troops of Bashar al-Assad were able to achieve further gains in the terrain. The army has brought dozens of villages west of the city of Aleppo under control, the state agency Sana reported on Monday.
Rescue workers reported that two hospitals had been hit during air strikes on Darat Issa near Aleppo and are now out of service. A spokesman for the rescue organization Weißhelme blamed Russia for the bombing of Syria's allies.
Syria: Erdogan threatens Syrian government - Donald Trump intervenes
Update, Feb 17, 2020, 9:00 am: After the escalation of the situation in Syria, US President Donald Trump is now intervening. He supports Turkey's request that Russia should no longer support the Syrian regime under Bashar al-Assad. In a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he expressed his “concern about violence” in Idlib, the White House said on Sunday. Most recently, Turkey had said that "it would know no borders," there should be further attacks on Turkish soldiers.
Russia has defended its offensive alongside the Syrian army. Russian armed forces and advisers have supported the military in the fight against terrorists, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to the Interfax agency. Russia regretted that these terrorists had become more active from Idlib. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened Syrian troops supported by the Russian side that they would pay a high price for attacks on Turkish soldiers. The Russian armed forces allied with Assad accused Erdogan of having committed "massacres" against the civilian population in Idlib.
Syrian armed forces in the area around al-Lirmoun, north of Aleppo.
© AFP
With Russian support, the Syrian army is increasingly advancing against the rebels in Idlib province dominated by jihadist militias. Syrian ruler Assad is determined to regain control of the region. Turkey, on the other hand, supports the rebels. In the meantime, Syrian government troops have conquered several cities and villages in the west of Aleppo province. The armed opposition in Syria is thus limited to an ever smaller area in the nearby province of Idlib, as the "Tagesschau" reports.
Syria: Assad threat - "Turkey will know no borders"
First report on February 15, 2020, 4:05 pm: Turkey has threatened retaliation for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if government troops 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.
A Syrian fighter is crossing the village of Miznaz, which lies in the foothills of Aleppo.
© AAREF WATAD / AFP
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.
- Idlib is the last major region to be held by the Syrian rebels.
- Ruler Bashar al-Assad is gaining more and more terrain with Russian help.
- President Erdoğan is determined to drive the Syrian troops back.
Syria: Conflict between Turkey and Russia is coming to a head
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 end the fighting. “Otherwise, we expect even more people to leave the region. This is something that nobody can be interested in. "
Syria: 800,000 people on the run https://t.co/BdSwei48Q4 #Syria #Idlib
- Tagesschau (@tagesschau) February 14, 2020Maas had recently described the situation in the Syrian Idlib as a “humanitarian catastrophe” and named Turkey , its president Erdogan * 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.
Syrian fighters with Turkish support are walking through a village on the Aleppo border.
© AAREF WATAD / AFP
The government forces in Syria had recently continued their advance to the last major rebel stronghold in Idlib and once again achieved an important strategic success. President Bashar al-Assad's supporters conquered parts of the M5 expressway near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. This brought the central Syrian traffic axis back under control - for the first time in around eight years. The route connects the capital Damascus and Aleppo, the two most important cities in Syria. It is considered one of the main supply arteries in the civil war country.
Marvin Ziegele with dpa
* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Rubric list picture: © AAREF WATAD / AFP
