Turkey: We will push the Syrian regime out of control points in Idlib

Fakhruddin Alton, head of the communications department in the Turkish presidency, announced that his country is determined at the end of February to expel the Syrian regime - according to the Sochi Agreement - out of the borders of the control points in Idlib.

Alton added in a tweet on Twitter that "the Assad regime is targeting civilians and is committing violations in the region," denouncing the silence of what he called "rants of human rights and civilian security" about what is happening in Idlib.

He considered that "statements that express the state of anxiety as a result of what is happening in Idlib is not enough, and that Turkey will not stand idle towards the massacres committed against the Idlib residents," stressing that the region is exposed to "a process of emptying its residents" in order to facilitate its control and gather the refugees to Turkish border, he said, "We will not allow hundreds of thousands of civilians to flow to our borders."

The Turkish official stressed that his country patiently dealt, and was keen to abide by the "agreements reached with the guarantor parties, at a time when the agreement to reduce the escalation zone and targeting Turkish soldiers by the regime is being ignored."

He explained that Ankara is determined to take the Syrian regime - under the Sochi Agreement - out of the boundaries of the control points in Idlib, by the end of February.

To achieve this goal, Alton highlighted that Turkey would mobilize its air and ground military forces.

The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed today, Wednesday, that the Syrian regime's planes cannot fly anymore over Idlib as they wish. During a speech in Ankara, Erdogan called on the regime forces to withdraw to the pre-Sochi borders.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow believes that the situation in Idlib has been aggravated by Turkey's failure to abide by the Sochi Agreement.

Moves
On Wednesday, Turkish Defense Minister Khulusi Akar discussed with his US counterpart Mark Esper security and defense issues in both Syria and Iraq. The two ministers' meeting came on the sidelines of their participation in the meeting of NATO defense ministers at its general headquarters in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

During the meeting, Akar expressed his satisfaction with the statements of American officials regarding the recent developments in Idlib.

He stressed the importance of both the United States and NATO making more concrete contributions in relation to recent developments in the region.

Acar called on NATO to provide serious and concrete support in order to stop Bashar al-Assad's attacks on Idlib.

The escalation of the escalation in Idlib is witnessing widespread violations by the Syrian regime and Iranian armed groups backed by Russian air support, as the regime and its allies advanced in large parts of the region and its forces became close to control of the Aleppo-Damascus highway.