Turkish boiling case ... response options in Idlib

Zaher Albik-Ankara

A boiling situation prevails in Turkey after 33 of its soldiers were killed in an air strike in Idlib countryside (northwestern Syria). Turkish experts accuse Russia of being behind the strike, while excluding a direct military confrontation with Russian forces.

After the attack that took place on Thursday evening at the village of Billion near the town of Ehsem, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held an extraordinary security meeting attended by Defense Minister Khulusi Akar, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoغلlu, Chief of Staff Major General Yasar Guler, and Chief of Intelligence Hakan Vidan .

Turkish military expert Ertugrul Bayrakdar told Al Jazeera Net that the planes in the possession of the Syrian regime cannot carry out night raids and target sites or vehicles on the ground.

Bayrakdar added that the Syrian regime does not have the audacity, the capabilities of accurate monitoring and reconnaissance, immediate and immediate behavior, and the precise injury of the Turkish convoy.

He continued that the control of the Turkish forces and the Syrian armed opposition over the strategic city of Saraqib, and before that the city of Neirab, and the lifting of the siege on the Turkish points there, angered the Russians and the regime, so this was a focused air strike by the Turkish army.

Russia’s responsibility
Bayrakdar said that Russia bears part of the responsibility for killing Turkish soldiers because it is a guarantor state of the Syrian regime, and considered that the decision of the Syrian regime is in its hands, and that the weapon is its weapon, stressing the need to neutralize it before any Turkish military move.

He pointed out that Ankara had informed the factions of the Euphrates Shield and the olive branch of the Syrian opposition that it was necessary to mobilize the Idlib battle.

According to the Turkish military expert, the Russians, in an attempt to vent Turkish anger, announced that the Turkish soldiers were among the units of the Syrian opposition, and they were not supposed to be in the place where they were bombed, and they also claimed that Ankara had not informed Moscow of the locations of these forces.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement today, Friday, that "terrorists" tried, Thursday, to launch a major attack on the positions of the Syrian forces.

The statement added that the "Russian Reconciliation Center" asked the Turkish side during the previous 24 hours to target Turkish soldiers in Idlib countryside, the coordinates of the locations of all Turkish units located near the "terrorist operations areas".

But Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar lied about the Russian statements, and said that the attack on the Turkish soldiers took place despite coordinating the coordinates with the Russians, and that the ambulances that were provided to rescue the soldiers were bombed despite the warnings from the Turkish side.

Turkish response
The military expert believes that the Turkish strategic response will focus on further progress on the ground to achieve the goal for which the current Turkish campaign was launched, which is to remove the Syrian regime forces to the previous borders, and to stabilize this field situation, and then enter this paper in the negotiations on a political solution in Syria.

It is expected that Saturday night will be a hot garrison in several Syrian regions, not only in Idlib, especially after Turkish "F-16" aircraft went for the first time from Diyarbakir to Syria, respectively.

The Turkish army responded to the Syrian regime's forces by bombing several locations of them. The head of the communication department in the Turkish presidency, Fakhruddin Alton, said that "all the Syrian regime's specific targets have been targeted by the fire of our land and air forces."

Minister Akar also announced that the Turkish army bombed over 200 targets of the Syrian regime after the "treacherous attack" in Idlib, and affirmed that 309 members of the Syrian regime forces were neutralized, 5 helicopters, 46 tanks and artillery, and two S-type air defense systems were destroyed. I-17 "and" S.-22 ".

Turkish media, quoting military sources, released scenes captured by drones, showing the ground and air strikes carried out by the Turkish army on the sites of the Syrian regime in Idlib countryside, starting from Friday dawn.

The scenes show the moments when armored convoys and mobile elements of the Syrian regime were targeted, and locations used by its forces as headquarters and armories.

After watching
For his part, Turkish journalist Haqqi Atabash told Al-Jazeera Net that Russia appeared to have taken a decision to divert attention from the success achieved by Turkey by restoring the city of Saraqeb strategy.

Atabash added in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that this achievement is a surprise and shock to many parties that go beyond the Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian ally, pointing to what he considered a complete disregard for the Western media for this field development despite all the videos broadcast from Saraqib's heart.

He continued that the killing of Turkish soldiers was aimed at achieving this goal, and seeks to show the high cost of Turkish military intervention in Idlib, to hold responsibility for President Erdogan and to show him as defeated.

Atabash pointed out that other powers are seeking to employ the event to pressure Erdogan for a comprehensive response even if things slip into a broad confrontation with the Russians, which is what the Turkish President is trying so far to avoid, as he put it.

He believes that the last blow that targeted Turkish forces in Idlib came after Russia made sure that the West would not stand with Turkey, considering that Ankara opened the doors for refugees to go to Europe came in this context.

The journalist pointed out that the options are limited to Erdogan, but pointed out that the Turkish government seeks to control the flow of news and information of negative significance to the Turkish public.

Atabash saw it as a battle, of which there is a natural loss, considering that this does not mean that Turkey and Erdogan are in danger or facing a historical turning point.

He stated that Moscow's promotion of the news of Turkey targeting Russian planes was deliberate in anticipation of what he described as the last Russian strike, saying that Ankara cannot withdraw or retreat because this means exposing Turkey to great risks.