OF THE
TIMES
Aerial footage published by the Russian Defense Ministry shows a Turkish self-propelled howitzer battery shelling the Syrian Army positions.The Turkish Defense Ministry claims to have retaliated for the deaths of the Turkish soldiers:
At the request of Damascus, Russian Su-24 strike aircraft hit the advancing armed groups, helping Syrian forces to repel the offensive, destroying a tank and six infantry-fighting vehicles, among other hardware.
The Turkish forces stopped the artillery barrage after Moscow contacted Ankara. The Reconciliation Center also said that the Turkish shelling left four Syrian soldiers injured. Moscow also once again called on Ankara to cease its support for terrorists in Idlib, and stop handing over weapons to them.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Defense Ministry said that two Turkish soldiers were killed and five others injured in the air strikes.
In turn, Turkey, a NATO member which is allied with militants opposed to President al-Assad's government, retaliated.The Turks seem keen to neglect the the fact that they're the invaders supporting jihadist nutjobs. The Russians are no doubt watching developments closely, and their willingness to fire on Turkish artillery shows they mean business. Keep in mind Peskov's words from yesterday:
The Turkish Defense Ministry claimed that as many as 50 Syrian government soldiers were killed in response, and that two armored personnel carriers, and other equipment were destroyed.
Turkey's President Erdogan said on Wednesday Ankara was prepared to launch a military incursion into Idlib to force the Syrian army out. Russia's reaction to such a development would depend on what goals the Turkish troops decide to pursue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"If it will be an operation against terrorist forces in Idlib, that would certainly be within the spirit" of Russia's agreements with Turkey, he said.But if it is about an operation against legitimate Syrian armed forces, that would certainly be the worst case scenario.Russia and Turkey agreed on the process of de-escalation in Idlib, the last stronghold of anti-government forces in Syria. Under the so-called Sochi agreement Turkey is supposed to use its clout among the armed groups to scale down and eventually halt attacks from within the province. The arrangement was taken as an alternative to a major military offensive by Damascus, which, Ankara said, would cause a major exodus of refugees from Syria to Turkey.
In reality this didn't happen, Peskov said.
"We were satisfied with the agreements that were reached in Sochi over a year ago and the satisfaction was mutual. We were absolutely not satisfied after militants and terrorist groups started launching attacks from Idlib territory against the Syrian armed forces and Russian military sites," he said. "That is when our satisfaction ended."
Why do we have to be enemies with Russia?
Why do we have to listen to our own people lie to us about facts easily found with a bit of page turning.
The media and government treat the populace like mushrooms...Less than average mushrooms at that.