OREANDA-NEWS. The troops of the Turkish armed forces located in the Syrian province of Idlib will invariably repel any attacks by the Syrian army. This was announced on Friday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a conversation with Turkish journalists on his return from Moscow after negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We will always be vigilant of any attacks and any violations by the army of the regime of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad", the Yeni Safak newspaper quoted the Turkish leader as saying. According to the Turkish president, Ankara’s main goal is "to implement the provisions of UN resolution 2254 on launching the political process and ending the civil war in Syria".

Erdogan also stressed that "Turkish observation posts in Idlib will maintain their status". “It's known that we have 12 observation posts, and they are very important for us. There can be no talk of any changes regarding the observation posts”, he said.

Putin and Erdogan at the talks on Thursday in Moscow agreed on the introduction of a ceasefire and a number of other measures aimed at resolving the situation in the Syrian province of Idlib. The agreements reached by them stipulate that hostilities in Idlib will be terminated along the entire line of contact with the entry into force of the ceasefire on March 6.