OREANDA-NEWS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Ankara is ready to force the troops of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad back from the Turkish observation posts in the governorate of Idlib, if they do not retreat. “The forces of the Syrian regime must retreat from our observation posts. The time, that we have given to those who are around them, now is running out. […] We will not take a single step back in Idlib and withdraw the regime’s forces beyond the established borders,” the politician said.

According to Erdogan, now the biggest problem of Turkey is that it cannot use the airspace on Idlib. “I hope that we will resolve this issue soon,” he added.

The situation in Idlib aggravated in early February. On February 20, the Syrian opposition, supported by Turkey, went on the offensive. The attack was stopped by the Russian Aerospace Forces. After that, Erdogan suggested that Moscow “step aside” in resolving the conflict.