26 Syrian Troops Killed In Retaliatory Turkish Strikes

Moscow-backed Syrian troops are battling to retake Idlib, the last major rebel bastion. Turkey supports some rebel groups in the area.

Saturday’s attacks came after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike by Syrian regime forces on Thursday. A 34th soldier later died from his injuries.

Turkey and Russia, who back opposing forces in the Syria conflict, have held talks to defuse tensions, as fears grow of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe.

“What did we do yesterday? We opened the doors,” Erdogan said in Istanbul.

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“We will not close those doors…. Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises.”

He was referring to a 2016 deal with the European Union to stop refugee flows in exchange for billions of euros in aid.

Erdogan said 18,000 migrants have amassed on the Turkish borders with Europe since Friday, but that could reach as many as 30,000 by Saturday.

“If they do not open we will try to cross by illegal means,” he told AFP.

“I hope that they will end up letting us in so that we can start a new life in Europe worthy of human beings,” said one Egyptian refugee.

– Patrols, tear gas, drones –

In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for one million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen expressed concern on the unimpeded flow of migrants from Turkey to the bloc’s external borders in Greece and Bulgaria.

“Our top priority at this stage is to ensure that Greece and Bulgaria have our full support. We stand ready to provide additional support including through (the EU border guard agency) Frontex on the land border,” she tweeted.

A Greek police source said migrants had started fires and opened holes in border fences.

Police and soldiers patrolled the Evros river shores — a common crossing point — and issued loudspeaker warnings not to enter Greek territory.

Criticising Greece’s reaction, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted: “Look who’s lecturing us on international law! They’re shamelessly throwing tear gas bombs on thousands of innocents piled at their gates.”

According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, from early Friday to early Saturday 180 migrants reached the islands of Lesbos and Samos, crossing the eastern Aegean from the Turkish coast.

One rubber dinghy arrived early Saturday in Lesbos carrying 27 African migrants, many of them women, who wept and prayed on their knees, said an AFP reporter.

The UN says nearly a million people — half of them children — have been displaced in the bitter cold by the fighting in northwest Syria since December.

– ‘They will pay’ –

Turkey said its forces had destroyed a “chemical warfare facility,” just south of Aleppo.

“We would not want things to reach this point but as they force us to do this, they will pay a price,” Erdogan said.

As part of the agreement, Ankara set up 12 observation posts in the province but Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces — backed by Russian air power — have pressed on with a campaign to take back the territory.

But the Turkish leader remained critical on Saturday.

“I asked Mr Putin: ‘What’s your business there?’,” Erdogan said. “If you establish a base, do so but get out of our way and leave us face to face with the regime.”

 

 

AFP