Turkey colluding with the terrorists in Idlib.
-
Roshan Amiri
- . March 5, 2020
- . Update: March 5, 2020 1:26 pm
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry accused Turkey of supporting what it described as terrorist organizations in the Idlib governorate, northwestern Syria, noting that the attacks on its air base in Hmeimim are daily.
The Russian defense said in a statement that “terrorist fortifications” had merged with Turkish observation points in Idlib.
She added that Ankara had failed to fulfill its obligations under an agreement to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syria, accusing it of violating international law by increasing the number of its forces there, according to Reuters.
The Russian Defense Ministry spoke about the escalation of attacks on the Russian Hmeimim air base, located near the coastal city of Latakia.
Tensions have escalated between Damascus and Ankara since the beginning of February following confrontations in which a number of Turkish soldiers were killed.
Last Thursday, the Turkish army suffered the biggest loss since its military intervention in Syria which began in 2016, as more than 30 Turkish soldiers were killed by an air strike attributed to the Syrian army.
These developments led to a kind of tension between Turkey and Russia, the main ally of the Syrian army, and the two sides exchanged accusations about responsibility for the deteriorating situation in Idlib, and the matter reached the point of making veiled threats.
Moscow said it could not guarantee the security of Turkish aircraft in the Idlib sky, after Damascus announced the closure of airspace there.
With the support of Russia, the Syrian army has launched a massive offensive since December against areas controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra and other opposition factions backed by Turkey, in and around Idlib governorate.
The Syrian forces have been able to make significant progress on the ground in recent weeks.
