Turkey

12 February 2020; AFP: Turkey's president accused Russia of committing "massacres" in its support of the Syrian regime on Wednesday, escalating a war of words as Turkish reinforcements arrived on the ground.

12 Feb 2020; MEMO: A Russian delegation yesterday left the Turkish capital, Ankara, after intensive discussions on halting clashes in the Syrian governorate of Idlib.

“The Russian delegation left Turkey without an agreement on ways to stop the clashes that killed 13 Turkish soldiers in Syria in just one week,” Reuters quoted a Turkish diplomatic source as saying.

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey’s military would strike Russian-backed Syrian forces by air or ground anywhere in Syria if another Turkish soldier was hurt as the Assad government tried to regain control of Idlib province.

Erdogan said Turkey is determined to push Syrian government forces beyond Turkish observation posts in Idlib by the end this month, and he urged allied Syrian rebels not to give government forces an excuse to attack.

ANKARA, February 11. /TASS/: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced Tuesday that he will unveil new measures on Syria on February 12 after Turkish forces came under fire in Syria’s Idlib Province, he said in a speech delivered in Ankara.

"The regime [of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] was seriously hit in Idlib but it is not enough. They will pay a heavy price for attacking our military personnel. Tomorrow, I will reveal the steps we are taking," the Turkish leader stressed.

ANKARA, February 11. /TASS/: Militants of the so-called Syrian armed opposition have shot down a helicopter belonging to the Syrian forces, TRT television reported on Tuesday.

According to Turkiye newspaper, the helicopter was shot down near Saraqib, a city in northwestern Syria’s Idlib Governorate.

Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense reported on Monday that Turkey had attacked 115 targets of the Syrian army in response to the previous attacks on its military in the Idlib Governorate. Three tanks, two artillery positions and one helicopter were destroyed, it stated.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the Syrian government will pay a “very heavy price” for attacking Turkish troops in northwest Syria’s Idlib region, where 13 soldiers have been killed in just over a week, prompting a retaliation.

“We gave the necessary responses to the Syrian side at the highest level. Especially in Idlib, they got what they deserved. But this is not enough, it will continue,” he said in a speech, adding he would announce on Wednesday a detailed plan on how to handle developments in Idlib.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey said it retaliated Monday after “intense” shelling by Syrian forces killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syria’s northern Idlib province, a marked escalation a week after a similarly deadly clash between the two sides.

The exchange of fire came as a Russian delegation held a second round of talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss the fighting in Idlib province, which has uprooted more than a half-million people in the past two months. No statement was issued at the end of the talks.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has sent major reinforcements to Syria’s northwestern Idlib region and “all options are on the table”, a senior official said on Sunday, as Ankara tries to stem rapid advances by Syrian government forces.

The government offensive in Idlib, the last major enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, has driven more than half a million people from their homes toward the closed Turkish border, threatening a new humanitarian crisis in Syria.

09 Feb 2020; MEMO: Turkey will never allow the peace in the region to be disrupted by the US’ so-called “Deal of Century” Mideast peace plan, said Turkey’s president today, reported by Anadolu Agency. 

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks came in a statement he sent to the current 3rd Conference of the Inter-parliamentary Jerusalem Platform in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur.

08 Feb 2020; MEMO: Istanbul’s municipality said it was hiking the price of public transport by 35% as of Monday to alleviate transport sector losses, in a move which will likely impact inflation, Reuters reports.

The price hike decision came after Istanbul’s Transportation Coordination Centre (UKOME) met representatives from the Istanbul Chamber of Tradesmen and Artisans (ISTESOB) on Thursday, the municipality said.