Russia Does Not Guarantee Turkish Aviation Security in Syria

Russia cannot guarantee the safety of Turkish military aviation in Syria after Damascus closes airspace over Idlib province, head of the Center for the Reconciliation of the warring parties, Oleg Zhuravlev, said. He recalled that Syrian authorities had to make this decision against the backdrop of the sharply aggravated situation in the province. The closure of the sky over Idlib was announced on Sunday. Damascus said that any aircraft toviolate airspace would be perceived as hostile and go astray. Over the past day, the Turkish Armed Forces continued to attack the Syrian government army in Idlib and its environs. Syria stated that Turkey thereby "literally rescues terrorists from attacks by the Syrian army." “This confirms Turkey’s non-compliance with all the agreements reached earlier, including the Sochi ones,” the statement said. In particular, it became known that in Idlib, the Turkish military shot down two Syrian Air Force aircraft. Pilots safely ejected. In addition, according to Evgeny Poddubny, war correspondent for Rossiya 1 TV channel, Turkish attack drones strike even single targets of the Syrian military: cars, armored vehicles and motorcyclists. The situation in the northern Syria Pro-Turkish militants a week ago, with the support of Turkish artillery, broke through the defenses of the Syrian army in the area of ​​Kminas and Nairab. Russian Su-24 attacked them, and that allowed government troops to successfully repel all attacks. According to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, two Turkish soldiers died as a result of an air attack in Idlib, and another five were injured. CPAC called on Ankara to stop supporting terrorists. The situation escalated on February 27 when terrorists from Khayyat Tahrir al-Sham launched a large-scale attack on the positions of the Syrian army. Government forces returned fire, killing 36 Turkish soldiers who were not supposed to be there, another 30 were wounded. After that, the Russian side took measures to ceasefire in order to ensure the evacuation of the dead and injured Turkish military. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan convened a security meeting. On Friday, the NATO Council held consultations on the situation in Syria in response to Ankara’s request. In the US State Department, RIA Novosti reported that "they are considering options for how best to support Turkey in this crisis."