Clashes in Syria escalate as Turkey-backed forces launch assault in Idlib

At least two Turkish soldiers were killed and another five wounded in Syrian government air raids on Thursday near Idlib. Turkish officials said that more than 50 Syrian forces were killed in retaliation.
The events come a day after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned of an offensive in Idlib, where Syrian forces, backed by Russia airpower, started an operation to capture the region. Russian media reported that Russia accused Turkey of providing artillery support.
In recent weeks, Syria’s government troops backed by Russian warplanes have captured more than 1,500 square kilometers of rebel territory in the northwest. In one day, they seized an area that they could not take for eight years, including the city of Aleppo, which was Syria’s commercial center before the war. Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad vowed to achieve “complete victory”, saying that Aleppo, the provincial capital, will “return stronger than it was before”.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that no agreements have been reached during Russia-Turkey talks on 17-18 February in Moscow. Turkey’s defense minister Hulusi Akar said in an interview that there is a “healthy dialogue” between the two sides, and that the problem can be overcome if Russia “steps aside”.
Akar added that Turkey intends to buy Patriot missile systems from the United States: “In the past, they have sent us air defense batteries. Our country faces a missile threat. In this way, there could be a support (through the deployment) of Patriot batteries,” he said. Turkey last year agreed to purchase Russian S-400 missile systems, angering the US, who expelled Turkey from its fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet program in return.
German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron called Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday. “Both made clear how much they are concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation of the people in the Syrian province Idlib. Both demanded an instant end to the fighting and the possibility of humanitarian aid for the people”, the spokesman said. The Kremlin said that Putin “underlined the need to take efficient measures to neutralize the terrorist threat while respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria”.
The war in Syria started with a popular movement against Assad’s rule that was brutally repressed. More than 380,000 people were killed in nine years and about half of the country’s population is displaced.