Armored vehicles, tanks and Turkish commandos entered Friday, February 7, from the Turkish city of Reyhanli to the region of Idlib, the last fear of the Syrian rebellion, where one of the most dramatic episodes of the war in Syria. These reinforcements were sent by Ankara, the godfather of the anti-Bashar rebellion, to respond to the encirclement by the Syrian loyalist forces of several of its observation points in the province.
Three Turkish posts are surrounded. The last was under siege on Thursday when Syrian forces loyal to Bashar Al-Assad tightened their grip on the city of Saraqeb, located at the junction of two highways connecting the provinces of Idlib, Aleppo and Latakia.
To take control of these highways, Damascus and its Russian and Iranian allies besieged the city, depriving the local Turkish post of its supply lines. In response, Turkish reinforcements that crossed the border on Friday were deployed to Taftanaz, Binich and Maarat Misrin, communities north of Saraqeb where fighting raged on Friday. The same scenario – encirclement, dispatch of reinforcements – had led, on Monday, to deadly clashes between Turkish and Syrian soldiers, making eight dead on the Turkish side and thirteen on the Syrian side.
"Terrorist" activities
Between Damascus and Ankara, the tension is at its height. Present in October 2017 in Idlib through agreements with Iran and Russia, the Turkish army has twelve observation posts there that its commander-in-chief, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, intends to keep.
In contrast, President Bashar Al-Assad, who is burning to crush the rebellion, would like to see Turkish soldiers packing up – something that Erdogan is trying to avoid. Before the takeover of Saraqeb, he ordered Damascus to end the siege by the end of February, explaining that in the event of refusal, Turkey "Was going to break it herself". Turkey’s defense ministry pledged retaliation for an attack on its soldiers on Friday.
It is not certain that the Turkish leadership can afford its ambitions. His control of the Syrian sky, dominated by Russian aviation, eludes him, as does his relationship with the Kremlin. President Vladimir Putin has been deaf lately to the bellicose speeches of his Turkish counterpart. The two men spoke on Idlib by telephone on Tuesday, but the Russian request to see the Turkish army retreat from its positions was unsuccessful.
