31 members of the Syrian army were killed by a bombing carried out by the Turkish army in the Idlib governorate and its surroundings in northwestern Syria, coinciding with Turkey's decision to open the gates of entry for refugees wishing to go to Europe the day after the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an air strike in Idlib attributed responsibility to Damascus.

In detail, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported yesterday, "Turkish bombing of artillery and drones targeting Syrian forces' locations in the eastern, southern and southeastern Idlib countryside," killing at least 16 of the Syrian army,

Whereas, the observatory later counted the killing of 11 Syrian forces in Saraqib.

Four other Syrian forces were also killed by a Turkish artillery attack on the town of Al-Araimeh in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, according to the observatory.

Damascus did not comment on the recent escalation with Ankara, while denouncing a military source, according to what the official Syrian news agency SANA reported, with what he described as "intimidation, exaggeration and doubling the size of the losses" in the ranks of the Syrian army.

The agency quoted a Foreign Ministry source as saying yesterday that the army will not allow Western countries and their agents to "perpetuate the control of terrorists" in Syria.

The source added that the army "will continue to carry out its mission of ending the terrorist presence in all of Syria."

The Turkish authorities accused the Syrian forces of launching raids in Idlib on Thursday, killing 33 of its soldiers, before they announced their response by bombing Syrian army positions "from the air and the ground."

With the latest escalation, the death toll among Turkish forces in Idlib has risen to 53 since the beginning of this month. The last weeks witnessed several confrontations between the two parties and an exchange of fire.

Yesterday, NATO expressed its solidarity with and support for Ankara after the killing of at least 33 Turkish soldiers in Syria, but without making pledges for any new concrete measures to defend the Turkish forces.

In a move that could have major repercussions for Turkey's neighboring countries in the west, Ankara announced that it would not prevent migrants wishing to reach Europe from leaving its lands.

"We will no longer keep the doors closed to immigrants who want to go to Europe," said a senior Turkish official, who declined to be named.

The decision to "open the doors" was taken during an emergency security meeting chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday night.

The Turkish media reported earlier that migrant groups were heading yesterday morning towards the border with Greece in western Turkey.

The Demir Oran news agency reported that about 300 migrants, including women and children, were among the group that headed towards the border in the Turkish province of Edirne around midnight.

She added that there are Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Moroccans in the group.

She added that immigrants also gathered at the Iwajik suburb on the western coast of Turkey in the province of Janakkala with the aim of traveling to the Greek island of Lipsos in a boat.

Turkish television, NTV, showed footage showing dozens of people walking through fields with backpacks on their backs, and said that the refugees tried to cross the Kapikuli border crossing to Bulgaria but were not allowed to pass.

He added that the same group of immigrants then walked across the fields to reach the Pazarkole border crossing into Greece.

For its part, Greece announced that it had strengthened patrols at the border after the Turkish declaration.

A government source said that "Greece has tightened the guarding of its lands and sea crossings to the maximum degree possible," while a police source said that the patrols on the borders had doubled, and a public call was issued to raise the readiness.

The European Commission announced yesterday that the union expects Turkey to "respect its pledges" contained in the agreement aimed at curbing the flow of migrants from Syria, in response to Ankara's decision to allow migrants to cross into Europe.

Turkey had threatened several times in the past to "open doors" to Europe for migrants, what observers consider as a means of pressure on European Union countries that are still under the weight of the immigration crisis that they witnessed in the summer of 2015.

Turkey yesterday urged the international community to establish a no-fly zone in northwestern Syria to prevent the aircraft of the Syrian army and its ally Russia from launching strikes.

The director of information at the Turkish presidency said that "the international community should take measures to protect civilians and establish a no-fly zone" in the Idlib area.

In Moscow, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Turkish soldiers targeted by the Syrian bombardment on Thursday were among "combat units of terrorist groups."

The ministry said that "Turkish soldiers who were among the combat units of terrorist groups came under the fire of Syrian soldiers" in Idlib governorate. She noted that the Turkish side did not report the presence of forces in the area concerned, and that "it was not supposed to be there."

According to the Russian-Turkish agreement, Turkish forces in Idlib province are supposed to inform Russia of their locations in order to avoid armed incidents, and this did not happen according to Moscow, which led to the killing of at least 33 Turkish soldiers, but Turkey was quick to reject the Russian interpretation.

The Kremlin urges Turkey to protect Russian citizens and facilities.

Syrian media: The army will not allow the West and its proxies to "perpetuate the control of terrorists".

- The European Union calls on Turkey to respect the immigration agreement between the two parties.