Stopping attacks by the Syrian regime is the responsibility of Russia and Iran as guarantor states of peace, Turkey’s foreign minister said Sunday, hours after an Assad regime attack on a Turkish observation post in northwestern Syria.
REGIME FORCES HIT TURKEY’S OBSERVATION POINT
Earlier Sunday, Assad regime forces attacked a Turkish observation post in Idlib, Syria — with no casualties — and was retaliated upon by heavy weapons, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said.
“Turkey won’t tolerate Syrian regime harassment of its soldiers,” Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told a ceremony inaugurating a Foreign Ministry office in Hatay, a southern Turkish province bordering Syria. Çavuşoğlu stressed that Turkey “will teach them their place.”
On Saturday, the Turkish military sent reinforcements to another observation post in Idlib near Zawiya, which was targeted by regime forces last week, leaving three Turkish soldiers wounded.
Although Turkey and Russia have agreed to stop acts of aggression and turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone, the Syrian regime has consistently violated the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.