Syria and Turkey exchange aircraft shot down in Idlib

Yesterday, the Syrian army shot down three Turkish planes, while the Turkish army shot down two Syrian fighters, in Idlib, and Moscow and Ankara discussed preparations for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the Syrian crisis.

In detail, the Syrian news agency SANA reported that "Syrian army units shot down a Turkish plane during its operations against terrorist organizations on the axis of Saraqib in the southeastern Idlib countryside." The agency released a video showing a burning plane during its fall, and later stated that the Syrian army shot down two marching planes Others.

In a related context, "SANA" reported that the Turkish regime targeted two Syrian planes in the Idlib area, and the pilots landed by parachute and they are fine.

For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement that Turkey shot down two "Sukhoi 24" warplanes belonging to the Syrian forces, after targeting them with "air-to-air" missiles, which were carried out by Turkish F-16 aircraft that were flying heavily on The Syrian border with the "Iskenderun Brigade", and the observatory stated that the two planes fell within the areas of influence of the Syrian government in the countryside of Ma`rat al-Numan and Jabal al-Zawiya.

The General Command of the Syrian Army announced the closure of the airspace for aircraft flights, and for any planes marching over the northwestern region of Syria, especially over Idlib Governorate, stressing that any aircraft that penetrate the Syrian airspace will be treated as a hostile flight that must be shot down and prevented from achieving its aggressive goals.

The Syrian army affirmed, "that it continues its military operations against terrorist organizations supported with fire support by the Turkish regime forces, on the Kafr A'awid axis in the southern Idlib countryside, and the axis of Saraqib in the southeastern Idlib countryside, and has fierce clashes with terrorists called the (Jabhat al-Nusra) supported with fire support from Turkey, Toward Kinsafra and Qustoun in the southernmost countryside of Idlib.

On the axis of Saraqib in the southeastern countryside of Idlib, units of the Syrian army continued their concentrated strikes on the focal points of terrorist organizations, their supply lines and their movements on the western axis with rocket and artillery fire, and the army clarified that during the past two days, it had liberated the villages of Al-Hawash, Hawijah, Tanjarah, Anqawi, Al-Amaqiyah, Shirmaghar, Al-Arqamah and Jabal Shahshabo Strategic in an area Al-Ghab Plain, in the northwestern countryside of Hama, after the last terrorist gatherings were destroyed.

The Syrian army, with Russian support since the beginning of last December, has launched a massive attack against areas controlled by armed factions backed by Ankara, and Turkish forces are deployed in and around Idlib province, and the Syrian forces have been able to make significant progress on the ground during the past weeks.

Ankara has sent massive military reinforcements to Idlib, to be added to the 12 observation points it establishes in the region under an agreement with Moscow dating back to 2018, and at least three of these points are surrounded by the Syrian army.

Yesterday, Turkish Defense Minister, Khulusi Akar, said that "the military operation launched by his country is continuing successfully." He added that Ankara has no intention of entering into a confrontation with Moscow in support of Damascus, and pointed out that "Turkey destroyed a drone, eight helicopters, and 103 Tanks, 72 howitzers, rocket launchers, and six air defense systems, among other military equipment, since February 27, ”he says.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoوlu agreed on the necessity of creating a favorable environment to improve working relations between their two countries, and indicated that the two ministers announced their support for adopting measures to create a favorable climate to facilitate the effectiveness of the dialogue in order to implement agreements to support Reaching a settlement in Syria, and other issues on the agenda of Russian-Turkish relations. They also discussed in a telephone call the preparations for the expected meeting between the Russian President and his Turkish counterpart.

Closure of the airspace over the northwestern region of Syria ... Damascus threatens to shoot down any enemy aircraft.