According to President Tayyip Erdogan , Turkey intends to drive back Assad forces away from its military observation posts in northwest Syria’s Idlib Province by the end of February. This despite their advances backed by the Russian air force.
Erdogan said he hoped the issue of using air space in Idlib will be resolved soon. Russia controls the region’s air space. Russian warplanes have been bombing Turkey-backed rebels on a daily basis in support of an offensive by the Assad forces.
Russia has also been bombing schools and hospitals in violation of international laws. The Russian air force has committed atrocities in Syria; but no one in the White House is willing to hold Vladimir Putin accountable for his crimes.
POSSIBLE TURKISH-RUSSIAN CLASHES OVER SYRIAN AIR SPACE
Should Turkish and Russian air forces occupy the same Syrian air space, it is highly likely they may clash. Such would open the door to an all out war between Russia and Turkey both backing opposing forces on the ground.
Erdogan told his party’s MPs in a speech:
We are planning to liberate our observation posts from the surrounding (Syrian government forces) by the end of this month, one way or another.
Syrian rebels backed by the Turkish military seized the town of Nairab in Idlib this week. However, Assad forces continue to made advances elsewhere in the province. This new statement by Erdogan is significant as it challenges Russian war machine as well as it sets a limits to the advances made by Assad.
The majority of Syrians consider Assad to be an illegal president who hijacked the country using fake elections.
Erdogan first said on Feb. 5 that Assad’s forces must pull back behind a line of Turkish observation posts by end-February; otherwise Turkey would drive them back.
Turkey set up 12 observation posts up around a “de-escalation zone” in Idlib under a 2017 agreement with Russia and Iran. Today, several of these posts are behind Assad forces front lines.
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