Jeyhun Aliyev
29 February 2020•Update: 29 February 2020
ANKARA
Turkish president on Saturday discussed the recent situation in Idlib, Syria with European Council president, according to the Turkish Communications Directorate.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Charles Michel discussed the "deepening humanitarian crisis" in Idlib, as well as its effects on the region, a directorate statement said.
Erdogan stressed that a collective and determined stance should be taken against the Syrian regime's aggression, the statement added.
Late Thursday, at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and dozens of others injured in an airstrike by Bashar al-Assad regime forces in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkey’s southern border.
The Turkish soldiers are working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia, which prohibits acts of aggression in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
But more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by Assad and Russian forces in the zone since then, as the cease-fire continues to be violated.
Thursday’s attack was one of a series since January on Turkish troops, with Turkish officials keeping their pledge that such assaults would not go unanswered.
The de-escalation zone is currently home to four million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces throughout the war-torn country.
