ANKARA (Dispatches) – Increased attacks in Syria’s terrorist-held Idlib province will spark a new wave of migration, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday.
The offensive has gathered pace and displaced tens of thousands of people since November, according to the United Nations.
Already host to 3 million refugees from the six-year-old conflict, Turkey fears a further influx across its border from Idlib. The northwestern province is the largest region still held by terrorists driven out of other strongholds in Syria, and is home to more than 2 million people, many in need of aid.
"Carrying out increased attacks in Idlib will cause new migration waves and victimization there. This is very dangerous and wrong,” Yildirim told reporters after Friday prayers.
Turkey has been deploying forces inside northern Idlib and setting up bases there after agreeing with Iran and Russia to establish a "de-escalation zone” in Idlib and nearby areas.