Erdogan: “WE WILL DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY ON THE GROUND AND IN THE AIR.”

Several Turkish troops were killed and injured when Syrian troops shelled the areas where the Turkish groups were operating in northern Syria, Idlib.

President Erdoğan warned: “I hereby declare that, as of today, if any harm comes to our troops at the Observation Posts or anywhere else, we will hit the regime forces anywhere without limiting ourselves to Idlib and to the boundaries of the Sochi Memorandum. Anyone who targets Turkey must know that they will pay the price everywhere, not only on the site of the attack,” He announced on his official site.

We are determined to push the regime out of the borders of the Sochi Memorandum – back behind our observation posts – by the end of February. To achieve that, we will do whatever is necessary on the ground and in the air without any hesitation and without allowing any stalling. We will not wait for the outcome of those endless meetings and will take steps to do whatever we need to do right now.”

“The problem in Idlib will not be resolved until the regime forces withdraw to the boundaries of the Sochi Memorandum,” Turkish President Erdogan said.
Earlier he said:

Touching on the attack that took place in Idlib, President Erdoğan said: “I wish Allah’s mercy upon our four soldiers who died a martyr’s death in the treacherous attack the Syrian regime conducted today, and offer my condolences to their relatives and to our august nation. Our nine soldiers were also wounded, one critically, in the attack.”

Underlining that Turkey has responded in kind to the attack in Idlib as has been the case so far, President Erdoğan stated: “We are determined to maintain the operations that we carry out to ensure the security of our country, our nation and of our brothers and sisters in Idlib. Those who try to test Turkey’s determination through such despicable attacks are severely mistaken.”

President and Justice and Development (AK) Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at a meeting held by the party’s Istanbul branch. Erdogan Official Website reporting

Touching upon the recent developments in Syria, President Erdoğan reiterated that Turkey by no means has an intention of occupying the Syrian lands, and, pointing to the Adana Agreement, said: “Let me stress once again from here our determination to put end to the oppression in Syria and to ensure the security of our borders and of our brothers and sisters. The problem in Idlib will not be resolved until the regime forces withdraw to the boundaries of the Sochi Memorandum.”

“This [Turkish] operation puts our [Syrian Democratic Forces] partners in harm’s way. It risks the security of ISIS prison camps and will further destabilize the region. From the president on down, we have communicated with the Turks on this issue,” SecDef said Oct, Nov 2019.

“Turkey’s unilateral action was unnecessary and impulsive. President Erdogan bears full responsibility for its consequences, to include a potential ISIS resurgence, possible war crimes and a growing humanitarian crisis. The bilateral relationship between our two countries has also been damaged.”

Sept 2019: The United States established a fully operational combined joint operations center in southern Turkey. The center is responsible for daily planning and coordination to implement the security mechanism.  The major elements of the security mechanism now in place involve the removal of Kurdish militia fortifications, which is being done in conjunction with the Syrian Democratic Forces on the Syrian side of the border. This address the Turkish security concerns, Maier said, and demonstrates the SDF commitment to the implementation.

Meanwhile, Syrian government forces took control all of the strategic Damascus to Aleppo highway, which they had been trying to wrest from Turkish-backed rebels for weeks. As Syrian troops continue to push ahead inside the rebel-held enclave of Idlib, Turkey sent reinforcements to observations posts it occupies, while dispatching its foreign minister to Moscow.

Syrian state TV showed bulldozers and engineering crews clearing rubble from the final stretch of the Damascus to Aleppo highway, which government forces captured from Turkish-backed rebels in Idlib province during the past several days, VOA reported.

Published on Feb 15, 2020

A convoy of Turkish military vehicles is deployed in the town of Turmanin, in the north of Syria’s Idlib province, where fighting is ongoing between Syrian regime troops and opposition forces backed by Ankara, Saturday, February 15.
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Turkey is deploying tanks and armor in Syria’s Idlib province as Damascus continues its offensive against the last rebel enclave. But in an apparent gesture to Moscow, Ankara is pledging to crack down on radical elements in Idlib, along with calls for “a lasting cease-fire.”

Damascus’s forces are claiming they are advancing against the rebels’ last stronghold. But in a sign of the intensifying fighting, rebels claimed to have to shot down a Syrian government military helicopter Friday, the second this week.

Ankara reportedly is stepping up its arming of rebels with sophisticated anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, along with deploying hundreds of armored vehicles and tanks, According to the VOA reports which post the footage below