Washington supports Ankara .. Turkey is talking about trying to drag it into a "dirty war" in Idlib

The United States affirmed Washington's full support for Turkey's response to the "unjustified" attacks on its sites in Syria, while Turkey considered - in an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss developments in Idlib - that the Syrian regime and its allies are seeking to drag it into a "dirty war".

The US ambassador to the Security Council called on Kelly Craft to cease an immediate cease-fire in Idlib, describing the attacks as "barbaric."

Kraft added that what is going on in Idlib is a campaign targeting one of Washington's allies, and she said that Turkey has the right to respond to what it is exposed to and that the American commitment continues alongside it.

The US delegate blamed Russia and the Syrian regime for violating the ceasefire agreements, noting that "the Astana track is completely finished and will not have a return."

For his part, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced his country's support for Turkey in the wake of the attack on its soldiers in Idlib.

In a statement, the US secretary affirmed that the United States strongly condemns the attack, which he described as "despicable and insolent."

He said, "The actions of the Assad regime, Russia, the Iranian regime and Hezbollah prevent the establishment of a ceasefire in northern Syria."

In the context, the US State Department announced, on Friday, that it had conducted an assessment of the fastest way in which it could provide assistance to Turkey regarding recent developments in Idlib governorate.

Anatolia quoted a senior State Department official, who declined to be identified, as saying that there are open channels for the exchange of intelligence and military equipment between the United States and Turkey.

The official pointed out that Turkey had not made any request regarding Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which states that the attack on any member state of the Alliance is considered an attack on all member states.

Dirty war
For his part, the Turkish delegate to the UN Security Council, Ferydun Senerlioglu said that the Syrian regime and its allies are seeking to drag Turkey into a "dirty war", noting that the attack on Turkish forces in Idlib was intentional.

The Turkish representative added, "There is no doubt that the Syrian regime and its allies are seeking to evict Idlib from its residents."

He continued: "If they want to learn the hard way, we will give them that." "Turkey does not want war. But Turkey will not hesitate to use force if its security is threatened," he added.

In Ankara, the Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the meetings between the Turkish and Russian delegations for the third day - to discuss developments and ways to solve the crisis - ended after two hours of discussions.

Informed sources said that the meeting took place at the request of Russia, adding that the Turkish delegation stressed the necessity of declaring an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Idlib, and the withdrawal of the regime to the borders of the Sochi Agreement concluded in 2018 between Turkey and Russia.

The Turkish presidency stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a call Friday to US President Donald Trump, and that they agreed to take additional urgent steps to prevent the human tragedy in Idlib, and Erdogan assured Trump of Turkey's determination to purge the area specified under the Sochi Agreement from the regime forces.

European support
In a related development, five European countries assured the United Nations Security Council, on Friday, of their solidarity with Turkey, calling on the Syrian regime and Russia to stop immediately their attacks on civilians in Syria.

This came at a press conference held by the ambassadors of the five countries to the United Nations, Belgium, France, Germany, Estonia and Poland, before the start of an emergency session of the Security Council.

"We confirm our full solidarity with Turkey, and the ongoing escalation in Idlib must stop now and offer our condolences for the deaths that have occurred among the ranks of the Turkish soldiers," Estonian Permanent Representative Sevin Trojenson told reporters - surrounded by the ambassadors of the other four countries.

"These attacks clearly show that the Syrian regime, backed politically and militarily by Russia, continues its military strategy at any cost and ignores the heavy costs paid by civilians," he added.

He continued, "We demand the Syrian regime, backed by Russia, to stop immediately the fighting, to respond to the calls of the United Nations Secretary-General in this context, and to allow full humanitarian access to civilians." "We also demand that Russia fully respect international humanitarian law," he added.

The session came to discuss the repercussions of the attack by the Syrian regime forces on Turkish forces in Idlib, northwestern Syria, on Thursday, which killed and wounded dozens of Turkish soldiers.

On the other hand, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jan Asselborn excluded the possibility of NATO supporting the Turkish side and joining the Ankara-led military operation in Idlib against the Syrian regime forces.

Asselborn - at a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow - expressed his hope that the situation in Idlib would be resolved within the framework of the dialogue between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Kremlin has announced that the meeting between Putin and Erdogan will be on the fifth or sixth of next March.

The Russian National Security Council, after a meeting chaired by Putin, expressed his concern about the escalation in Idlib, saying that this escalation is behind him who he described as "terrorists".

The Kremlin said, "Turkish soldiers were killed in the areas of terrorist operations, and Turkey has not fulfilled its obligations to prevent hostilities in Idlib against Russian military installations."

Bomb and kill me
On the field level, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on Friday evening the death of one of its soldiers and the injury of two others in a new bombing in Idlib, and confirmed that it retaliated by bombing sites of the Syrian regime.

The ministry said - in a statement - that 8 tanks, 4 armored vehicles, 5 artillery and two rocket launchers were destroyed, in addition to killing 56 members of the Syrian regime forces.

In a related development, the Al-Jazeera correspondent reported the killing of at least four gunmen from the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the injury of several others, in the battles taking place in the Idlib countryside between the Syrian regime forces and Hezbollah on the one hand and the Syrian opposition forces backed by Turkish forces on the other.

The correspondent indicated that the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas were killed in the town of Talhia in Idlib countryside during field confrontations with Syrian opposition fighters and bombing by Turkish aircraft.