Turkey sends more reinforcements to Idlib and Russia calls for adherence to the Sochi agreements

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that Ankara will take the necessary measures against those who do not comply with the cease-fire in Idlib, while Moscow called on Ankara to stop issuing "provocative statements" on Syria.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported on the Turkish-Syrian border that the Turkish army sent more reinforcements towards Idlib Governorate to reinforce its observation points there, and that it had deployed missile launchers on the Syrian border off Idlib.

These reinforcements come after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his forces will attack the Syrian army anywhere if targeted, even with a small attack, i.e. a Turkish site in Idlib or the surrounding areas.

For its part, the Syrian opposition National Liberation Front said that its gunmen killed a number of members of the regime forces and the militias supporting them, west of Aleppo.

The opposition indicated that it had destroyed a missile launching base for the regime forces in the Al-Rashideen axis, west of Aleppo, after it was targeted with an anti-tank missile.

The Sochi Agreements
The Syrian News Agency said that the regime forces took control of the villages of Sheikh Ali, Arada and Arnaz, in the southwestern countryside of Aleppo, after fighting with what they described as terrorists in that area.

In the same context, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow does not see a conflict in what is happening in Idlib, but rather the Syrian army's fight against what he described as terrorism on the soil of his country.

Piskov said in press statements that the discussion is not about a dispute, but rather about the non-implementation of the Sochi agreements and the extent of commitment of the parties to these agreements.

He added that it is not possible to talk now about a direct American intervention in the recent escalation over Idlib.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also called on Turkey today, Thursday, to stop issuing "provocative statements" about the current events in Syria amid escalating tension over the situation in Idlib province.

The ministry added that it was "confused" by the statements made by the leader of the National Party, the partner of the Turkish President Erdogan's party in power, in which, according to the ministry’s description, he tried to hold Russia and the Syrian government responsible for the killing of Turkish soldiers in Syria.