Syria demands 'immediate' withdrawal of Turkey troops
15 Oct 2017 5:12 PM GMT
DAMASCUS: Syria on Saturday demanded the "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of Turkish troops that have deployed in the country's northwestern province of Idlib, state media said citing a foreign ministry source.
Turkish troops entered Idlib on Thursday night as part of efforts to enforce a so-called "de-escalation zone" agreed by rebel backer Ankara and regime allies Russia and Iran at talks in Astana earlier this year.
But the Syrian foreign ministry source slammed the "Turkish aggression", saying it had "nothing whatsoever to do with the understandings reached by the guarantor countries in the Astana process."
The source added that the deployment was "a violation of these understandings and a departure from them."
"The Turkish regime must abide by what was agreed in Astana." Turkey's military said Friday it had begun "activities to establish observation posts on October 12", days after Turkish troops launched a reconnaissance mission in Idlib. On Friday, Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported over 100 soldiers including special forces, and 30 armoured vehicles, had entered Idlib. And a new convoy entered on Saturday, according to the Britain based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
The province is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
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