Syria Closes Airspace as Turkey Steps Up Aggression
DAMASCUS (Dispatches) — Syria’s army on Sunday declared the airspace over northwest Syria closed to planes and drones, pledging to down any aircraft that violates it.
"Any aircraft that violates our airspace will be dealt with as enemy aircraft that must be brought down,” state news agency SANA said, citing a military source.
The announcement came after SANA said two Syrian jets were shot down by Turkish forces inside Idlib, amid a military escalation there that’s led to growing direct clashes with Turkey’s occupying forces.
SANA said the jets were targeted over the Idlib region, and that the four pilots ejected with parachutes and landed safely.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said it had shot down two SU-24 aircraft and destroyed air defense systems after one of its aerial drones was downed. Earlier, Syrian media said it had downed a drone inside northwest Syria.
The Syrian announcement came after two days of Turkish drone attacks in Idlib province that targeted Syrian government forces. These confrontations have added to soaring tensions between Turkey and Russia, which support opposing sides of the war.
Turkish Defense Minsiter Hulusi Akar, speaking from military headquarters near the Syrian border, said Turkey aimed to confront Syrian government forces rather than Russian troops. He called on Moscow to persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to withdraw to 2018 ceasefire lines on the edges of Idlib.
Akar boasted Turkey had "neutralized” more than 2,200 Syrian troops, 103 tanks and eight helicopters, a figure many observers believe is extremely exaggerated.
The operation is Turkey’s fourth aggression in the war-torn country since 2016.
The latest aggression began after Syria launched an offensive to liberate Idlib from terrorists who are backed by Turkey.
Since the operation intensified in December, Syrian government forces have rapidly advanced into the last terrorist stronghold, retaking the strategic M5 highway and solidifying control over parts of Aleppo province, which borders Idlib.
Turkey is evidently upset by changing conditions on the ground. It has deployed massive troops and military equipment in recent weeks to stop Syrian troops from ousting terrorists.
Tensions have escalated in recent days after 34 Turkish troops were killed in Syrian government air raids on Idlib on February 27. The toll was the
biggest military loss the Turkish military has suffered since it intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2016.
Russia has said the Turkish troops were killed among terrorists, explaining that they were outside the de-escalation zone agreed between Ankara and Moscow.
A Syrian military source on Sunday lashed out at Turkish forces for carrying out "hostile acts” against the Syrian armed forces by directly targeting their positions in Idlib and its adjacent areas and providing support to armed terrorist organizations.
"These repeated hostile Turkish acts will not succeed in saving terrorists from the strikes of the Syrian Arab Army and they prove the Turkish regime’s disavowal of all the previous agreements including the Sochi memo,” the source said.
On Sunday, a video emerged showing Turkish forces violently beating Syrian soldiers apparently after capturing them.
The image has triggered a wave of outcry among social media users, who said the behavior violated the terms of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war
"Any aircraft that violates our airspace will be dealt with as enemy aircraft that must be brought down,” state news agency SANA said, citing a military source.
The announcement came after SANA said two Syrian jets were shot down by Turkish forces inside Idlib, amid a military escalation there that’s led to growing direct clashes with Turkey’s occupying forces.
SANA said the jets were targeted over the Idlib region, and that the four pilots ejected with parachutes and landed safely.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said it had shot down two SU-24 aircraft and destroyed air defense systems after one of its aerial drones was downed. Earlier, Syrian media said it had downed a drone inside northwest Syria.
The Syrian announcement came after two days of Turkish drone attacks in Idlib province that targeted Syrian government forces. These confrontations have added to soaring tensions between Turkey and Russia, which support opposing sides of the war.
Turkish Defense Minsiter Hulusi Akar, speaking from military headquarters near the Syrian border, said Turkey aimed to confront Syrian government forces rather than Russian troops. He called on Moscow to persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to withdraw to 2018 ceasefire lines on the edges of Idlib.
Akar boasted Turkey had "neutralized” more than 2,200 Syrian troops, 103 tanks and eight helicopters, a figure many observers believe is extremely exaggerated.
The operation is Turkey’s fourth aggression in the war-torn country since 2016.
The latest aggression began after Syria launched an offensive to liberate Idlib from terrorists who are backed by Turkey.
Since the operation intensified in December, Syrian government forces have rapidly advanced into the last terrorist stronghold, retaking the strategic M5 highway and solidifying control over parts of Aleppo province, which borders Idlib.
Turkey is evidently upset by changing conditions on the ground. It has deployed massive troops and military equipment in recent weeks to stop Syrian troops from ousting terrorists.
Tensions have escalated in recent days after 34 Turkish troops were killed in Syrian government air raids on Idlib on February 27. The toll was the
biggest military loss the Turkish military has suffered since it intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2016.
Russia has said the Turkish troops were killed among terrorists, explaining that they were outside the de-escalation zone agreed between Ankara and Moscow.
A Syrian military source on Sunday lashed out at Turkish forces for carrying out "hostile acts” against the Syrian armed forces by directly targeting their positions in Idlib and its adjacent areas and providing support to armed terrorist organizations.
"These repeated hostile Turkish acts will not succeed in saving terrorists from the strikes of the Syrian Arab Army and they prove the Turkish regime’s disavowal of all the previous agreements including the Sochi memo,” the source said.
On Sunday, a video emerged showing Turkish forces violently beating Syrian soldiers apparently after capturing them.
The image has triggered a wave of outcry among social media users, who said the behavior violated the terms of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war