In retaliation by Turkey against the Syrian government army, the Turkish defense minister, Hulusi Akar, “destroyed more than a hundred enemy tanks” in two days. Also 2,212 Syrian soldiers of the regime of President Bashar Al Assad are said to have been ‘neutralized’, two war planes were shot down and six anti-aircraft systems were destroyed by the Turkish operation Spring Shield.
A British investigative body, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, contradicts the numbers quoted by Turkey and holds it at 74 deaths on the side of Al Assad.
In the event of air attacks by the Syrian regime, 34 Turkish soldiers would have died on Friday. Since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the order to support the Syrian rebels in the Idlib region in early February, 55 Turks have already died in the area. Erdogan had repeatedly warned of retaliation if more Turkish soldiers were to be wounded.
According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu, Turkey is doing everything it can to prevent a confrontation with Russia, which supports Al Assad. Talks between both parties for a ceasefire would be ongoing. “However, the massacre of Bashar Al Assad by the Syrian people must stop,” Akar told news agency Reuters.
Hundreds of refugees arrive at border Europe
More than one million people fled due to fighting between the two parties. Turkey decided to open the borders to Europe for the already 3.6 million refugees from Syria.
Thousands are said to have stopped near the Greek and Bulgarian borders and are trapped in no man’s land: Turkey does not want to take the refugees back.
The United Nations has expressed concern about the status of refugees.
– .
