{"id":42346,"date":"2020-02-20T20:23:02","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T20:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=42346"},"modified":"2020-02-20T20:23:02","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T20:23:02","slug":"turkey-launches-operation-against-syrian-regime-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=42346","title":{"rendered":"Turkey launches operation against Syrian regime troops"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nANKARA:\u00a0Turkey launched a military operation on Thursday to push back Syrian government forces in northwest Syria, defying warnings by Russia that an armed response would be \u201ca worst-case scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe offensive by Turkish troops and National Liberation Front fighters targeted Assad regime forces near the village of Neirab, a strategic center southeast of the rebel-held city of Idlib.<\/p>\n

\nTwo Turkish soldiers were killed and five others wounded during the operation after an airstrike hit Turkey\u2019s troops.<\/p>\n

\nThe offensive came a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned of an imminent military operation in Idlib despite Russian warnings.<\/p>\n

\nNeirab is located on a major highway linking the city of Latakia with the Iraqi border and is about 10 km from Idlib city center. Regime forces seized the village two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\nSyrian troops supported by Russian aircraft and special forces have been battling since December to eradicate the last rebel strongholds in Idlib and Aleppo provinces in what could be one of the final chapters of the nine-year civil war.<\/p>\n

\nEmre Kursat Kaya, a researcher with Istanbul-based think tank EDAM, said the risk of a direct clash between Turkish and Syrian army forces is now \u201cextremely high.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cReports suggest that in contrast with previous opposition counter-offensives, Turkish commando units and mechanized artillery units are actively present in the zones of operation,\u201d he told Arab News.<\/p>\n

\nTroops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have captured one-fifth of the territory in Idlib.<\/p>\n

\nAbout 15,000 Turkish troops are believed to be stationed in northwest Syria. Turkey has given the Assad regime until the end of the month to withdraw behind a demarcation line agreed under the 2018 Sochi deal.<\/p>\n

\nHowever, Moscow and Ankara disagree in their interpretation of the agreement for de-escalation in Idlib. While Turkey insists on maintaining a cease-fire in and around Idlib, Russia focuses on fighting terrorism and eradicating jihadi elements on the ground.<\/p>\n

\nShortly after Turkey launched its offensive on Thursday, the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, a peace monitoring unit founded by Turkey and Russia in 2016, accused the Turkish military of backing \u201cterrorists\u201d in Syria, and called on Ankara to stop providing arms and support to terror groups.<\/p>\n

\nTalks between Turkish and Russian delegations in the past two weeks failed to reach a compromise.<\/p>\n

\nKaya warned of a growing risk of clashes between Turkish forces and Russian mercenaries in the region amid mounting tension between the two countries.<\/p>\n

\nThe analyst said that he anticipated \u201ca limited but intense opposition counter-offensive backed by Turkish forces, while Turkey will continue to use diplomatic channels with Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe said: \u201cSo far, a broad military operation does not seem to be part of Turkey\u2019s plans. Ankara\u2019s main objective in Idlib will continue to be to force the hand of Russia as much as it can while avoiding a larger conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nBut, according to Kaya, Turkey\u2019s military deployment in Idlib sends a clear message to the Kremlin: \u201cWhile we can agree on some issues, we also have red lines and it is time that you acknowledge them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAs the three guarantor states, Turkey, Russia and Iran are set to meet in Tehran early next month to discuss the Syrian conflict.<\/p>\n

\nOytun Orhan, coordinator of Syria studies at the Ankara-based think tank ORSAM, said Neirab was a \u201cpsychological frontier\u201d for Turkey during the fighting because the next step was to capture Idlib city center.<\/p>\n

\nHowever, he said that if it was shown that Turkish soldiers had been killed by the airstrikes conducted by Russian warplanes, it could lead to direct conflict between Turkey and Russia, with Ankara \u201chitting back hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSo far both countries have managed the process through their proxy forces. They were abiding by some rules without confronting each other directly. But if Russia claims responsibility for the attack killing the Turkish soldiers, the message is clear: I can target you and more serious costs might incur,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANKARA:\u00a0Turkey launched a military operation on Thursday to push back Syrian government forces in northwest Syria, defying warnings by Russia that an armed response would be \u201ca worst-case scenario.\u201d The offensive by Turkish troops and National Liberation Front fighters targeted Assad regime forces near the village of Neirab, a strategic center southeast of the rebel-held…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}