Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Wednesday that his military would launch its harshest retaliation yet if the Syrian regime breaks a fragile truce in the northwestern province of Idlib brokered last week.
The ceasefire arranged by Turkey and Russia halted a three-month air and ground campaign by the Syrian regime against the opposition-held province.
The Russian-backed Syrian government offensive made significant gains in Syria's last opposition stronghold, and Turkey sent thousands of troops across the border to reinforce the rebels, leading to rare direct fighting between Syrian and Turkish troops.
“If those across from us don’t keep their promise, we will never shy away from advancing on them in a much more serious way than before,” Erdogan said in his weekly address to his AK party lawmakers.
He said there had been a number of small violations of the truce, which Turkey was monitoring carefully.
He said Turkey's priority would be the security of its troops manning a dozen observation posts inside Idlib. Some of those posts now fall within Syrian government-controlled territory. The posts are in place as part of a previous cease-fire agreement reached in 2018.
“The security of our observation posts is at the top of our priorities. In the event of the smallest attack there, we not only will retaliate, we will give a much harsher response,” Erdogan said.
The President added that Turkey was engaged in efforts to turn the cease-fire into a more lasting truce.
Speaking to reporters in parliament, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu acknowledged minor violations of the truce, but added Moscow had warned Damascus to stop.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters that talks with a Russian delegation about the technicalities of the truce were progressing in a "positive and constructive" manner. The delegation arrived Tuesday.
The current deal sets up a security corridor along Syria's M4 highway, running east-west in Idlib. Russian and Turkish troops are scheduled to begin joint patrols along the M4 on March 15.
The cease-fire deal also appeared to achieve Moscow’s key goal of allowing the Syrian government to keep hold of the strategic north-south highway known as the M5. Syrian forces had captured its last segments in the latest offensive, which began in early December.
