Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday escalated the tone against Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, accusing it of committing "massacres" in Idlib, northwestern Syria, in conjunction with the arrival of new Turkish reinforcements to the region, while the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the Turkish president of being a person "separated from Indeed".
In detail, Erdogan threatened to strike the Syrian army "everywhere" if his soldiers were harmed, but Russia responded by accusing the Turks of not "neutralizing the terrorists" in Idlib province, the last opposition stronghold in Syria.
Turkey has strengthened its military positions in recent days in the region, as hundreds of vehicles loaded with special forces, artillery and military personnel have arrived, since Friday, in the town of Bunche, located in the northeast of the city of Idlib, according to an AFP correspondent.
Turkish officials announced that 14 Turkish soldiers were killed and 45 others wounded, with shelling carried out by the Syrian army in Idlib province, during the past nine days, stressing that Turkey had responded by killing many Syrian forces in an attempt to repel them.
The Syrian army, backed by Russian airstrikes, made progress in its December operation to restore Idlib governorate despite the 2018 Sochi ceasefire agreement between Turkey and Russia.
The operation, during which the Syrian forces took control of several towns and a major international road, resulted in the killing of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of thousands, under harsh climatic conditions.
In a situation less similar, Erdogan criticized Russia directly, during a meeting of his ruling party, the "Justice and Development" bloc, in parliament yesterday, by saying that "the Syrian army and the Russian forces that support it are constantly attacking civilians and committing massacres."
He added that Turkey would do "everything necessary" to return the Syrian forces behind the 12 observation points that they had set up in Idlib under the Sochi Agreement, in an effort to prevent the Syrian army from launching its attack on the adjacent province.
"I announce that we will strike the Syrian army forces everywhere from now, regardless of the Sochi agreement, if the slightest harm is done to our soldiers, our observation points, or anywhere else," Erdogan said.
In response, Russia accused Turkey of not abiding by the 2018 agreement.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that Turkey was "obligated to neutralize terrorist groups" under the agreement, but that "all of these groups are attacking Syrian forces and are taking aggressive actions against Russian military installations."
Damascus yesterday described the Turkish president as a person "separated from reality" after threatening to target the Syrian forces in "everywhere", and a source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry said, according to the official Syrian news agency (SANA): "The head of the Turkish regime comes out to us with statements Empty and hollow hollows, issued only by a person who is separate from reality, and denotes only by ignorance, to threaten to hit the soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army, after suffering painful strikes on his army on the one hand and his terrorists on the other hand.
In a telephone conversation, earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed their desire to "fully implement" the Russian-Turkish escalation agreements in Syria, according to a statement issued by the Kremlin.
The Turkish presidency confirmed the call, but gave no details.
A Russian delegation that included military and security officials held two rounds of talks in Ankara this week, but it did not produce any concrete agreement.
In an indication of Turkey's desire to continue the dialogue with Russia, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoوlu announced that a Turkish delegation would go to Moscow "in the coming days."
He said: "We continue to work with Russia, we are working to achieve a permanent cease-fire, but even if nothing results from that, our determination is clear and we will do what is necessary."
In light of the Russian-Turkish tension over Idlib, Washington expressed clear support for the Turkish authorities.
And James Special Jeffrey, the American special envoy to Syria, held closed talks with Turkish officials on the "humanitarian situation on the ground and the humanitarian process" in Syria, according to a Turkish diplomatic source.
On his arrival, on Tuesday evening, he announced that Washington wanted to support Turkey "as much as possible."
Turkey, which already houses 3.7 million Syrian refugees, fears a new influx of displaced people across its borders in the event that Idlib falls into the hands of the Syrian army, and its borders remain closed to new deserters.
Meanwhile, a pro-Syrian person was killed in an exchange of fire between American and pro-Syrian forces in the town of Khirbet Amo, southeast of the city of Qamishli, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a correspondent for "AFP". "The coalition forces responded to the fire as an attempt to defend themselves," the international coalition, led by Washington, said in a statement as it passed near a checkpoint for forces loyal to the Syrian army.
In light of the Russian-Turkish tension over Idlib, Washington expressed clear support for the Turkish authorities.
A pro-Syrian person was killed in an exchange of fire with American forces in Qamishli.