Turkey called for a no-fly zone in Syria after 33 soldiers were killed in an airstrike in Idlib, the last opposition stronghold in the war-torn country and site of escalating military confrontations between Damascus and Ankara.
Turkey blamed Thursday’s attack – which marked the single largest death toll in a day of its soldiers in Idlib – on Syrian government forces.
Read also: Germany’s Maas calls attacks on civilians in Idlib ‘war crimes’
“The international community must act to protect civilians and impose a no-fly-zone,” tweeted Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish president’s communications director.
NATO ambassadors were meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss the situation at Turkey’s request, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg announced. Turkey has the second-largest military in NATO.
Governor Rahmi Dogan of the Turkish province of Hatay, which borders Idlib, said 32 wounded soldiers being treated in hospital and were not in a life-threatening condition.
The death toll of Turkish soldiers killed in Idlib has surpassed 50 since early February, when Ankara started deploying more troops to the north-western province to stave off a Syrian military offensive backed by Russian air power.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its air force did not conduct airstrikes near the town of Behun, where Turkish servicemen were killed, state news agency TASS reported.
Turkish personnel, who were assisting “terrorist” militants in Idlib, were killed by Syrian government forces “near the inhabited community of Behun,” it added.
But Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said the attack took place and continued even though the troops’ location was shared with Russia.
Turkey supports the Syrian opposition, while Russia is the Syrian government’s largest military backer. Damascus’ steady advances in Idlib have displaced nearly 950,000 people, who are fleeing to Turkey’s border.
“The guarantors of the Astana process, Russia and Iran, will lose all their credibility if they fail on their commitment to reduce violence and hostilities in Idlib,” said Altun.
Turkey, Russia and Iran are the guarantors of the so-called Astana peace process, launched in Kazakhstan in January 2017 to end the Syrian war.
“The regime has taken advantage of the international silence in the face of its crimes for years,” Altun said.
The most pressing concern for Turkey, which hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, is a massive influx from Idlib.
Hundreds of migrants were heading to Turkey’s borders with European Union members Greece and Bulgaria following reports that Ankara will not stop them from reaching Europe, according to Turkish media.
An estimated 300 migrants, including children and women, walked towards the Pazarkule border crossing in the city of Edirne along the Greek frontier, private news agency Demiroren reported.
Meanwhile, dozens gathered in the coastal cities of Izmir, Canakkale and Mugla, hoping to travel by boat to the Greek islands, the report added, sharing video footage of large groups on the move.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for an urgent stop to the military escalation and warned that the bloc will consider “all necessary measures” to safeguard its security.
“There is a risk of sliding into a major open international military confrontation,” he tweeted, while pointing to the “unbearable humanitarian suffering” being caused.
Recent events risk triggering a renewed flow of migrants towards Europe. However, the EU as a bloc has no military presence in the region and measures taken to date, such as sanctions, have had limited effect.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who chaired an emergency security meeting lasting several hours into early Friday, is yet to make a public announcement.
But Altun said that “it was agreed in the meeting to retaliate in kind against the illegitimate regime that has pointed its gun against our soldiers.”
Akar, who travelled to Hatay, said air, land and artillery firepower targeted more than 200 Syrian government targets, destroyed five helicopters, 23 tanks, more than 30 armoured vehicles and two air defence systems.
He claimed that 309 “regime troops” were “neutralized,” a common term Turkey uses for soldiers killed or captured.
Only hours before news of the attack, Erdogan had said that “in Idlib, developments have turned to our advantage right now. … The regime forces have suffered a very big loss.”
Erdogan has repeatedly given an end-of-the-month ultimatum for Syrian government forces to stop besieging Turkish observation posts in Idlib that were set up under the deal with Russia.
“Time’s almost up,” Erdogan said this week. “We plan to free our besieged observation towers, one way or another.”
Meanwhile, Turkey’s main stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul, was down more than 6 per cent. The lira plunged to its lowest level versus the dollar since September 2018, trading at 6.24. The lira has lost more than 5 per cent against the greenback this year. (dpa)
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