Two Turkish soldiers were apparently killed in an air raid in Idlib, Syria. Erdogan issued an ultimatum to the Syrian government.
- Two Turkish soldiers were killed again in the Syrian region of Idlib .
- This happened in an air raid that had emanated from Syrian "regime forces" .
- A Turkish state media said that the Turkish military had retaliated .
Update 23:02: Turkey has apparently decided to allow Syrian refugees to enter Europe unhindered. So far, the path had been blocked. Focus-Online reports. A senior Turkish official communicated the news on Thursday. The border between Syria and Turkey should also be opened. The background is that hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing the province of Idlib are expected in Turkey. The impact of the decision on the Turkey-Europe agreement is not clear.
Update 10:42 pm: According to official information, at least 22 Turkish soldiers were killed in a Syrian airstrike in northern Syria. That said the governor of the southern Turkish border province Hatay, Rahmi Dogan, early Friday morning. There had previously been talk of nine deaths and serious injuries.
The Turkish Presidential Palace in Ankara had convened a special meeting on Idlib late Thursday evening. This was reported by TV channels such as CNN Türk and NTV. It therefore took two hours. According to the state news agency Anadolu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan led the security meeting himself. The largest opposition party, the CHP, is also said to have convened a meeting on Idlib.
Idlib is the last major rebel area in the civil war country. The situation there recently escalated. Turkey supports Islamist rebels in the conflict. It had reached an agreement with Russia, the Syrian government's protecting power, to set up a de-escalation zone in Idlib and set up observation posts there. A ceasefire actually applies. In recent weeks, however, the Syrian military has continued to advance in the area with Russian support.
Update at 3:02 p.m .: Despite the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Syria , Russian President Vladimir Putin is not yet planning to attend a Syria summit on March 5 . The Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced. In addition to Russia and Turkey, Germany and France are also expected to take part in the crisis meeting. But the Kremlin has now given Erdogan a refusal . "This is not currently in President Putin's schedule," said a spokesman for the Interfax agency on Thursday.
Putin also said that Putin already had other plans that day. However, there are other formats in which Russia talks to Turkey at expert level about the situation in northern Syria. Meanwhile, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has again called for an immediate ceasefire in Idlib . "The suffering of the local people is indescribable," the SPD politician said on Thursday in the ARD lunchtime magazine before a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York. He also called for better access for aid supplies and stressed that out of the three million inhabitants of the Idlib province, almost one million have now fled .
Idlib: Two Turkish soldiers killed again in an air raid
First report from February 27, 2020:
Ankara - Two Turkish soldiers have been killed in an airstrike in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib, officials say. In addition, two other soldiers were injured in the attack , the Ministry of Defense in Ankara reported on Thursday via Twitter. The attack came from Syrian "regime forces", said the state news agency Anadolu. The Turkish military has retaliated. This means that the number of Turkish military personnel killed in the region in around a month has increased to 19 .
There should be a ceasefire in Idlib - but the reality is different
The province of Idlib is the last large rebel area in the civil war country . Turkey is on the side of the Islamist rebels in the conflict. It had reached an agreement with Russia as the Syrian government's protecting power to set up a de-escalation zone in Idlib. Turkey had also set up observation posts there. A ceasefire actually applies. But the Syrian military has advanced into the area with Russian support in recent weeks.
Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened a military operation if the Syrian military does not withdraw. A corresponding ultimatum to the Syrian government is due to expire at the end of February . The situation in Syria was also discussed in a conversation between Erdogan and Merkel in mid-February. There, the Turkish president put pressure on the federal government.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians flee across the Turkish border - dramatic humanitarian situation
Negotiations with Russia are ongoing . Another summit involving Germany, France, Russia and Turkey is also up for debate. March 5 is currently the target date. Among other things, Turkey wants to prevent the continued attacks by Syria and its supporters from driving out more people. Hundreds of thousands are on the run , many towards the Turkish border . The humanitarian situation is therefore dramatic. German politicians are also worried about the situation in Syria. For example, CSU politician Horst Seehofer warned of a “second 2015” in a conversation with a member of parliament just two weeks ago.
Idlib is dominated by the Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia group close to Al Qaeda . Syria and its ally Russia argue that they are fighting terrorists in the region. However, more moderate rebels are also fighting there.
dpa, cia
List of rubric lists: © dpa / Maya Alleruzzo
