At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike by Syrian government forces in northwestern Idlib province as Turkey vowed "to respond in kind" with attacks on "all" their positions.

The rapid escalation of the conflict on Friday also threatened another refugee crisis as media reports cited  Turkish officials as saying they "opened the gates" for Syrian refugees to transit unimpeded to Europe. "Turkey will now recognize all elements of the Syrian government forces as hostile targets," spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Omer Celik said. "All elements of the Syrian regime have now become targets. Turkey now recognizes all Assad regime elements as hostile targets," he added. 

Russia, meanwhile, said Ankara failed to inform it that Turkish troops were fighting alongside rebels in Idlib.

"Turkish military who were in the terrorist units’ battle formations came under Syrian troops’ fire near the inhabited community of Behun on February 27," Russian Ministry of Defense said. According to the ministry, militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terror group (one of the names of Jabhat al-Nusra, outlawed in Russia) made an attempt to launch a large-scale offensive in Syria’s Idlib.

"Turkey continues supporting illegal armed groups in the Idlib de-escalation zone, using artillery and combat UAVs," chief of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides Oleg Zhuravlev told a briefing on Thursday. "In violation of the Sochi agreements, the Turkish side continues supporting the activities of illegal armed units in the Idlib de-escalation zone through artillery fire and the use of combat reconnaissance drones for strikes on units of the Syrian Armed Forces," Zhuravlev said.

Turkish forces are delivering airstrikes at the positions of Syrian government forces in response to shellings at Turkish soldiers in Idlib, the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement released on Friday after an emergency session in Ankara.

28 February 2020 / 10:34