It is an event that causes cascading reactions. The bombing of Turkish positions on Thursday in Syria is causing a crisis involving Russia, Syria, Turkey and NATO, with the migration issue in the background.
At least 33 dead and 30 injured. At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in the Syrian province of Idleb. They died in raids that Turkey attributes to the Syrian regime. Thirty Turkish soldiers were also injured; they were evacuated to Turkish territory. Ankara immediately retaliated by bombing positions of the Bashar al-Assad regime. The strikes killed at least 16 Syrian soldiers.
Russia assures that Turkey has not given the position of its soldiers. These deadly bombings, which bring to at least 53 the number of Turkish soldiers killed in Idleb in February, risk widening a gap between Ankara and Moscow, the main supporter of the Syrian regime. Russia claims that the Turkish soldiers were in the midst of "terrorist groups". She adds that Turkey, contrary to an agreement to avoid this kind of drama, has not communicated the position of its troops.
Turkey will no longer "stop" migrants trying to get to Europe. If Turkey is so interested in Idleb, it is mainly because it fears a new influx of refugees on its soil, where 3.6 million Syrians already live. As part of an agreement concluded in 2016 with Brussels, the European capital, Ankara is committed to preventing the passage of migrants to Europe, in particular via Greece. But on Thursday, AKP presidential party spokesperson Omer Celik said Turkey was "no longer able to detain" migrants who want to travel to Europe, while noting that Ankara's migration policy 'had' not changed '. The decision to "open the doors" was taken during an extraordinary security council chaired by the head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the night of Thursday to Friday, explains a senior official under the guise of l 'anonymity. This Friday morning, several hundred migrants are approaching the Greek border. In recent months, Ankara has repeatedly called for more European aid to deal with the humanitarian disaster in Idleb.
NATO emergency meeting. The Secretary General of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Jens Stoltenberg, announced an emergency meeting this Friday of the ambassadors of the 29 countries of this political and military organization. The convening of this meeting follows a request from Turkey, a member of NATO, under Article 4 of the Treaty. He can be invoked by an ally who considers his territorial integrity, his political independence or his security threatened. This article only allows consultations. It is Article 5 which seeks to consider that an attack on one of the parties targets them all and can lead to broader military responses.
Turkey wants a no-fly zone. Ankara urged the international community on Friday to establish a no-fly zone in northwestern Syria to prevent planes of the Syrian regime and its Russian ally from carrying out strikes.
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A proxy war between Turkey and Russia. With support from the Moscow air force, Damascus launched an offensive in December to retake Idleb's last rebel and jihadist stronghold. The regime and its Russian ally have taken over several localities in this border province of Turkey. However, rebel groups, some of which are supported by Ankara, counterattacked and recaptured the strategic city of Saraqeb on Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). By taking over the city, jihadists and rebels cut the M5 highway connecting the capital Damascus to the metropolis of Aleppo. Since December, more than 400 civilians have been killed in the assault, according to the OSDH, and more than 948,000 people, including more than half a million children, have been displaced according to the UN (Organization United Nations).
