Erdogan: We lost hundreds of Syrian army attacks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized that his country’s forces operating in Idlib are facing the Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, and not Russia, stressing that Turkey lost hundreds of people due to the attacks of the Syrian army.

“There is no problem here between Russia and Turkey, we do not confront Russia, we are facing Assad,” Erdogan said, in a press statement made on Friday from his plane during the return flight from Moscow.

Erdogan added: “This system has always worried us from all border regions, including Al Bab and Jarablus, and launched attacks from there, which have resulted in huge losses amounting to hundreds.

We sent our warnings, but he did not stop, though”.

He stressed that the cease-fire in Idlib, which was agreed upon with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday, will take hold if the signatures concluded in this regard are fulfilled.

He also pointed out the importance of the developments in Syria and Idlib not affecting the relations between Turkey and Russia, saying: “From this principle, we have taken a very important step”.

He explained that the ceasefire will maintain the security of the Turkish border, the stability of Idlib, the security of civilians, the return of life in the city to its nature, and the safety of Turkish soldiers there.

“Our goal is to activate the political track in Syria according to UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and end the internal war…

We will always be ready to respond to violations and potential attacks by the regime”, he added.

He also pledged that Turkey would maintain the status quo of the monitoring points in Idlib, stating that “there is no change in this regard at this time”.