Erdoğan warns Assad regime will suffer heavy losses if it persists in violating Idlib ceasefire
Speaking in Istanbul after a cabinet meeting, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the Assad regime had been using the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to ramp up violence in Idlib. Turkish leader warned that Damascus would suffer "heavy losses" if it persisted in violating Idlib ceasefire.
- World
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 08:37 | 20 April 2020
- Modified Date: 10:16 | 20 April 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that the Assad regime was violating a ceasefire in the northwestern Idlib region, warning that Damascus would suffer "heavy losses" if it persisted.
Turkey and Russia agreed on March 5 to halt hostilities in northwestern Syria after an escalation of clashes there displaced nearly a million people and brought the two sides close to confrontation.
Speaking in Istanbul after a cabinet meeting, Erdoğan said the Assad regime had been using the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to ramp up violence in Idlib, and added that Turkey would not allow any "dark groups" in the region to violate the ceasefire either.
ERDOĞAN CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE SUPPORT TO LIBYAN GOVERNMENT
Erdoğan also called on international community once again to support legitimate government in Libya against "putschist Haftar".
Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) on Saturday launched an operation to recapture Tarhuna, a town of strategic value for warlord Khalifa Haftar and his last major stronghold in the area surrounding Tripoli.
Tarhuna is a major focal point for Haftar's forces in their onslaught against Tripoli as well as for their supply lines from Al-Jufra airbase.
The GNA has been under attack by Haftar's forces since last April, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence. It launched Operation Peace Storm on March 26 to counter attacks on the capital.