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The downing came amid escalating tensions in northern Syria which deteriorated after eight Turkish nationals were killed after Syrian forces shelled one of Turkey's observation posts in Idlib. The Turkish military retaliated by launching an air strike which Ankara claimed had killed 76 Syrian servicemen.See also:
Idlib is one of four de-escalation zones created in Syria by Russia, Iran and Turkey during talks in May 2017. The province is one of the remaining militant strongholds in the country, with pockets of the region controlled by terrorist groups.
All of this had already been happening in the press and online five years ago. The reason back then was not Idlib, but Aleppo. What was the result of that? The crisis over a [Russian] plane, and the assassination of Ambassador Karlov. By the way, I receive direct threats [too].Russia's previous envoy to Turkey and Yerkhov's immediate predecessor, Andrey Karlov, was killed by a Turkish national in Ankara in December 2016. Yerkhov pointed out that the hatred against Moscow and "incomprehensible bloodthirstiness" displayed by some Turkish bloggers and social media users does not help to defuse the situation. He admitted that there is some vitriol from Russian internet users as well.
Syria's Foreign Ministry has vowed to continue fighting terrorist groups in Idlib and elsewhere notwithstanding Turkish threats, and has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of supporting, arming and training terrorist organizations operating in the region. Damascus also reiterated that Turkey's military presence on Syrian soil is illegal.Turkey also deployed more military reinforcements to Idlib. Russia voiced its support for Syria saying that it has the right to eliminate the terrorists from its territory.
"At the moment, we consider the most important thing is the implementation of... agreements (between Russia and Turkey)... and of course the suppression of any terrorist activity directed against the Syrian armed forces and Russian military facilities," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.On February 12th, one young person was killed in northern Syria, when US troops deviated from their route and clashed with civilians.
"We consider such sorties from Idlib unacceptable," the senior Russian official noted.
The altercation between Syrian and US servicemen drew in a large group of local residents and at one point the American troops opened fire on them, killing a 22-year-old man and injuring another person. Russian military police arrived at the scene and were able to quell the tensions before they could have spiraled into a major confrontation.UPDATE 14/02/2020: The Syrian Army has captured a strategic base in southwestern Aleppo:
"Only thanks to the efforts of the Russian servicemen who arrived at the scene of the incident, it was possible to prevent a further escalation of the conflict with local residents," the Russian military said.
According to a field source in the Aleppo Governorate, the Syrian Arab Army, alongside Liwaa Al-Quds and the Local Defense Forces (LDF), captured the 46th Regiment Base and a nearby town after the jihadist rebels withdrew from the area. The source said the Syrian Army and their allies faced virtually no resistance from the jihadist rebels, who withdrew from the base after losing several points nearby.
He would add that the Syrian Army is now pushing towards the strategic town of Al-Atareb, which is located near the Turkish border.
The collapse of the jihadist forces in southwestern Aleppo and eastern Idlib has been a major surprise for the Syrian Army, as even Turkish military intervention has done little to help the militants maintain their ground.
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