Turkey condemns Russia's strikes on Syrian Idlib
Ankara condemns air strikes on Syrian Idlib carried out by Russian aircraft, stated Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, as quoted by Anadolu news agency.
According to him, after the attacks, Turkey informed Russia that it considers an attack on a province not controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad, a mistake. “The purpose of the attacks is, to capture Idlib. This poses a serious risk. This will be a disaster in every way,” said Cavusoglu. He added that an offensive by Assad's forces on Idlib can cause more than 2 million people to flee to Turkey, reports CNN Turk.
Anadolu was the first to report about Russian air strikes on Idlib that started September 4th. Later the agency specified that several settlements in Idlib were attacked which resulted in the death of nine people, 20 received injuries.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia confirmed the strikes on Idlib the next day, on September 5th, saying that the target was the facilities of the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra. According to Russia, the strikes were conducted only against the “confirmed targets” of the militants who were at a distance from the populated areas. There were drones at these facilities which were used to attack the Russian airbase Khmeimim, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated.
Idlib is the last region of Syria, which is not controlled by government troops or groups supported. Russia believes that there are militants taking refuge in the province, the United States insists it is the last stronghold of the armed opposition.