Turkey-Syria tensions escalate

[pieter]

NEWS/SYRIA'S WAR

Turkey-Syria tensions escalate after troops killed: Live updates

Erdogan, Putin voice concern over tensions as Turkey says 33 of its troops were killed in Syrian gov't attack in Idlib.

by Linah Alsaafin & Zaheena Rasheed
22 minutes ago


A Turkey-backed Syrian fighter fires a truck-mounted gun towards the town of Saraqeb on Wednesday [Omar Haj Kadour/AFP]

Dozens of Turkish troops have been killed in Syrian government air raids, marking a dramatic escalation in the conflict between Ankara and Moscow-backed forces in northwestern Syria.

The 33 deaths followed an attack late on Thursday and comes as Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air power, are attempting to seize the last remaining territory held by Syrian opposition forces who are backed by Turkey.

The toll is the deadliest suffered by the Turkish army since it intervened in Syria in 2016 and is raising fears of a direct confrontation between Turkey and Russia on the battlefield.

A statement from the Kremlin says the Russian and Turkish presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, voiced "concern about the escalation of tension in Idlib" following the deaths of Turkish soldiers.

The statement provides additional details of the phone call between the two leaders earlier today.

The conversation took place on Turkey's initiative, the Kremlin says, adding: "Both sides reaffirmed that it was necessary to adopt additional measures in order to normalise the situation in northwestern Syria."

Abdulla Hussein, a rescue worker with the Syrian White Helmets, says Syrian government air raids on Idlib's second largest city - Maaret al-Numan - are so severe his colleagues and medical relief groups are not able to access the area.

"The situation is Idlib is disastrous in every meaning of the word. The people there are running out of options. The Syrian government shelling, backed by Russian warplanes, has targeted even the main roads that the civilians are using to flee different towns and villages," he tells Al Jazeera in Reyhanli, southern Turkey.

"The last two days, with the advancement of Syrian forces towards Mount Zawiya area [highland area that includes Maaret al-Numan], civilians there have left their villages and towns. Our teams and medical relief groups can't even access the area due to the severity of the aerial bombardment there."

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary-general, is calling on Russia and Syria to stop the offensive in Idlib and to "fully engage in UN-led efforts for a peaceful political solution" to the conflict. .

"We call on Russia and the Syria regime to stop the attacks, to stop the indiscriminate air attacks ... we also call on Russia and Syria to fully respect the international law," Stoltenberg tells reporters in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

"This dangerous situation must be de-escalated."

[pieter]

Turkish President Recep Erdogan threatened to send millions of Syrian refugees into Europe earlier if European nations describe Turkey's actions in Syria as an 'occupation'.

[pieter]

[pieter]

The Nederlandse Omroep Stichting NOS (Dutch Broadcast Foundation, is one of the broadcasting organizations making up the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has a special statutory obligation to make news and sports programmes for the three Dutch public television channels and the Dutch public radio services.


Turkey threatens to let refugees through, NATO calls on Russia and Syria

Ambassadors from 29 NATO allies met at the request of Turkey to talk about the situation in Syria, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said. The ambassadors are from the North Atlantic Council, the political governing body of the treaty organization.

The NATO allies met under Article 4, which allows a Member State to convene other allies if the security of the country is at stake. Turkey raised the alarm after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in the Syrian province of Idlib yesterday.

"We are calling on Russia and the Syrian regime to stop the random air strikes," Stoltenberg said after the meeting. "We call on those countries to respect international law and to fully contribute to UN efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria."

Refugees not stopped



A senior Turkish official told Reuters news agency yesterday that Turkey will no longer stop Syrian refugees who want to go to Europe.

The Turkish state news agency today shows drone images of several hundred people being let through. From Istanbul people would be taken by bus to the border with Greece. Greece subsequently strengthened the surveillance of the land and sea borders with Turkey. Bulgaria also tightens border controls.

The images of migrants are also distributed via social media. Correspondent Lucas Waagmeester: "Twitter in Turkey is currently blocked, for those who doubted for which audience these images are intended."

Turkey and the European Union signed a refugee deal in March 2016. It was agreed that Turkey will receive migrants and better guard its borders, and receive financial support from the EU in return. The EU pays 1.5 billion euros per year for the reception of more than 3.5 million refugees. Turkey has since threatened to open its borders several times and to allow migrants through.

The admission of refugees has not yet been confirmed by official Turkish sources and a spokesperson for the UN refugee organization says he has not received any information about the movement of refugees to the border.

President Erdogan's communications director, Fahrettin Altun, said on Twitter that Turkey has already taken in four million Syrian refugees and cannot accommodate another million.

Turkey has further called on world powers to set up a no-fly zone in Syria to protect the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons in the country.

Russian warships



In the meantime, Russia is sending two warships to the Syrian coast. Ankara said that air strikes by the Syrian government caused the deaths on the Turkish side, but according to Russia, Turkey itself is guilty.

Russian Defense Minister Shoigu states that Turkish troops have been hit by Syrian artillery fire intended for rebels in the area. According to him, Ankara did not inform Moscow of their presence there. Turkey states that the Syrian attack continued after a warning was issued.