A US delegation arrives in Ankara to hold talks with Turkish officials on escalating conflict in Syria
This handout image grab taken from footage released on February 28, 2020 by the Turkish Defence Ministery Press Service shows a Turkish self-propelled artillery gun reportedly firing at Syrian regime targets in Idlib province, according to Turkish defence minister. Turkey is hoping and working for a ceasefire in the embattled Syrian province of Idlib, Turkey's president said on Monday.
"So far, two warplanes, two UAVs, eight helicopters, 135 tanks and five air defence systems belonging to Assad's regime has been destroyed by our armed forces," he said.Opposition forces have also recaptured three villages in Idlib from regime forces, including Jabal Zawiya.Turkish drone strikes in Syria's Idlib province killed 19 regime soldiers on Sunday, a war monitor reported, as tensions soared between Damascus and Ankara.
Meanwhile, Turkish Armed Forces also bombed the regime's Nairab military airport in Aleppo province, rendering it unusable, Anadolu Agency reported. Turkey launched a full scale military operation against Assad regime forces in northern Syria on Sunday.He said since the operation began on February 28, 1 UAV, 8 helicopters, 103 tanks, 72 guns/howitzers/CNRA, 3 air defence systems and 2,212 regime soldiers have already been eliminated.
"The deconfliction zone in Idlib aimed to prevent atrocities and massacres against 4 million civilians in this area. Our goal has been to prevent ethnic cleansing and war crimes by the Assad regime as well as the displacement and more refugees. We have been left alone in this struggle!"Turkey's defence chief and high-level military officials inspected the country's troops on the Syrian border early Sunday.
Stressing that Turkey will retaliate against Assad regime’s attacks, Erdogan said he expected NATO’s concrete and clear solidarity during phone call. Trump, who was speaking at a press conference in White House, told a reporter: "We have many meetings with President Erdogan and we are also talking about exactly what you refer to."
Erdogan on Saturday confirmed that Turkish Armed forces destroyed 7 Syrian regime warehouses storing chemical products in northwestern Syria. Turkey's UN envoy Feridun Sinirlioglu asked the UN Security Council to stop the regime's "war crimes" in Syria. The ministry said on Twitter that Turkey "keeps on hitting regime targets" in the Idlib region in retaliation.
The State Department official said the military power of Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad's forces was very reliant on Russia, and that the authorities in Damascus would not have been able to push the Idlib offensive without support and approval from Moscow. In a phone call, Trump and Erdogan called jointly on Russia and Syria to "halt" a military offensive in the Idlib region.
Seibert said both parties agreed on the urgent need to reach a renewed ceasefire and to begin necessary talks as soon as possible. He said that Erdogan, during his talk with Putin, clearly emphasised that the "blood of Turkey's martyrs" will never be left on the ground. NATO's secretary general called on Russia and Syria to halt the offensive in Idlib and said, after a meeting of the alliance's ambassadors, that NATO stood in solidarity with Turkey.
There were no armed groups near Turkish soldiers at time of the Idlib attack, Akar said. The attack continued, hitting even ambulances, despite warning shots. The Greek sources, who declined to be identified, said Athens was also in contact with the European Union and NATO on the matter. Under Article 4, any NATO member can request talks when they believe their "territorial integrity, political independence or security" is threatened.
"The world is sitting on its hands and watching the destruction of Idlib by Assad, Iran, and the Russians," Graham, a Republican and an ally of Trump, said in a statement. "I am confident if the world, led by the United States, pushed back against Iran, Russia, and Assad that they would stand down, paving the way for political negotiations to end this war in Syria."
Meral Aksener, the head of the opposition IYI Party, also turned to Twitter to extend her condolences.According to a statement by the opposition Nationalist Movement Party , the party’s leader Devlet Bahceli and other senior members follow the latest developments in Idlib from the party’s headquarters.“Assad, the head of a terror state and a war criminal, and Syrian regime elements will pay a heavy price for this treacherous attack,” Oktay said.
The Turkish army destroyed a total of 55 tanks, three helicopters, 18 armoured vehicles, 29 howitzers, 21 military vehicles, four Docka anti-aircraft guns, six ammunition depots, and seven mortars in the operations, said the sources speaking on condition of anonymity.Shortly after the killing of the Turkish soldiers, senior officials announced Turkey will no longer close its border gates to refugees who want to go to Europe.
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