Turkey called for a no-fly zone in Syria after 33 soldiers were martyred in an airstrike in Idlib, the last opposition stronghold in the war-torn country and site of escalating military confrontations between the Assad regime and Turkish-backed forces.
"The international community must act to protect civilians and impose a no-fly-zone," Turkey's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun tweeted on Friday.
NATO ambassadors were meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss the situation at Turkey's request, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg announced. Turkey has the second-largest military in NATO.
Governor Rahmi Doğan of the Turkish province of Hatay, which borders Idlib, said 32 wounded soldiers being treated in hospital and were not in a life-threatening condition.
Turkey supports the Syrian opposition, while Russia is the Assad regime's largest military backer. Damascus' steady advances in Idlib have displaced nearly 950,000 people, who are fleeing to Turkey's border.
"The guarantors of the Astana process, Russia and Iran, will lose all their credibility if they fail on their commitment to reduce violence and hostilities in Idlib," said Altun.
Turkey, Russia and Iran are the guarantors of the so-called Astana peace process, launched in Kazakhstan in January 2017 to end the Syrian war.
"The regime has taken advantage of the international silence in the face of its crimes for years," Altun said.
The most pressing concern for Turkey, which hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, is a massive influx from Idlib.
Hundreds of migrants were heading to Turkey's borders with European Union members Greece and Bulgaria following reports that Ankara will not stop them from reaching Europe, according to Turkish media.
An estimated 300 migrants, including children and women, walked towards the Pazarkule border crossing in the city of Edirne along the Greek frontier, private news agency Demirören reported.
Meanwhile, dozens gathered in the coastal cities of Izmir, Çanakkale and Muğla, hoping to travel by boat to the Greek islands, the report added, sharing video footage of large groups on the move.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for an urgent stop to the military escalation and warned that the bloc will consider "all necessary measures" to safeguard its security.
"There is a risk of sliding into a major open international military confrontation," he tweeted, while pointing to the "unbearable humanitarian suffering" being caused.
Recent events risk triggering a renewed flow of migrants towards Europe. However, the EU as a bloc has no military presence in the region and measures taken to date, such as sanctions, have had limited effect.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who chaired an emergency security meeting lasting several hours into early Friday, is yet to make a public announcement.
But Altun said that "it was agreed in the meeting to retaliate in kind against the illegitimate regime that has pointed its gun against our soldiers."
Akar, who travelled to Hatay, said air, land and artillery firepower targeted more than 200 Syrian government targets, destroyed five helicopters, 23 tanks, more than 30 armoured vehicles and two air defence systems.
He claimed that 309 "regime troops" were "neutralized," a common term Turkey uses for soldiers killed or captured.
Only hours before news of the attack, Erdoğan had said that "in Idlib, developments have turned to our advantage right now. ... The regime forces have suffered a very big loss."
Erdogan has repeatedly given an end-of-the-month ultimatum for the regime forces to stop besieging Turkish observation posts in Idlib that were set up under the deal with Russia.
"Time's almost up," Erdoğan said this week. "We plan to free our besieged observation towers, one way or another."
