Turkey: Funerals held for soldiers martyred in Idlib

ANKARA

Funerals were held across Turkey for the soldiers martyred in the Thursday's deadly attack in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkey’s southern border.

The funerals were held in many Turkish provinces, including Hatay, Mersin, Tokat, Kayseri, Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Osmaniye, Zonguldak, Adana, Afyonkarahisar, Antalya, Usak, Samsun, Istanbul, Kahramanmaras, Tekirdag, Mersin, Izmir, Denizli, and Konya.

Funerals for the Turkish martyrs are also expected to be held on Sunday.

Many Turkish state and high-ranking military officials along with thousands of citizens attended the funerals across the country.

Funeral prayers in absentia were also organized in many other Turkish provinces.

At least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and tens of others injured in an airstrike by Bashar al-Assad regime forces in Idlib late Thursday.

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.

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.