Turkey tells Russia that Syrian attacks on Idlib must stop

ANKARA, Turkey — The Turkish foreign minister says he has told his Russian counterpart that the Damascus regime’s attacks on the last rebel-held bastion in Syria must stop.

Backed by Russian air power, Syrian President Bashar Assad has been intensifying his assault on the holdout northwestern province of Idlib.

And tensions have been running high between Ankara and Moscow after 14 Turks were killed in shelling by Syrian government forces in the region.

“I stressed that the attacks in Idlib must stop and it was necessary to establish a lasting ceasefire that would not be violated,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tells journalists today in Germany.

Cavusoglu met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday during the Munich Security Conference.

Turkey has 12 observation posts in Idlib as part of a 2018 deal reached between Ankara and Moscow in the Russian resort of Sochi to prevent a regime offensive.

But despite the agreement, Syrian regime forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, have pressed ahead with an assault to retake the province, killing hundreds of people.

— AFP