Turkey’s Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, accompanied by Turkish army officials, attends a ceremony on February 28, 2020, for soldiers killed in a Syrian regime attack. (AA)
Sat 29 February 2020:
Condolences from around the world poured into Turkey after the Syrian regime martyred 33 Turkish soldiers in Idlib.
-Georgia
President Salome Zourabichvili offered her condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers.
“I mourn the tragic loss of Turkish life in Idlib. I send my condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Turkey, our strategic partner and neighbor,” she said on Twitter.
Germany
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas extended condolences and condemned the attacks by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally.
-Slovenia
The Foreign Ministry offered condolences and stressed Slovenia is concerned about tension in Idlib.
It urged the parties to end their attacks as soon as possible and do their best to build peace.
-Croatia
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs published a similar condolence message for the martyred Turkish soldiers and said Croatia will support every step which is taken to build peace and protect civilians.
-Montenegro
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro extended condolences by publishing a statement that said Montenegro will always stand by Turkey as a NATO member.
-Iraq
Maruf Selim, State Minister of Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), offered condolences to Turkey.
“We always stand by Turkey. We wish Allah protects Turkey and its hero soldiers,” he said.
Chairman of the Iraqi Turkmen Front Ersat Salihi in a statement said that he shares the Turkish nation’s sorrow.
“I wish Allah’s mercy on the martyrs and I extend my condolences to the families of martyrs and to the Turkish nation,” he said on Twitter.
– Muslim Brotherhood
The organization published a letter of condolence for the martyred soldiers and said Turkey fights alone to defend the rights of oppressed people and innocents against Russia-backed Syrian regime.
Late Thursday, at least 33 Turkish soldiers were martyred and dozens of others injured in an airstrike by Assad regime forces in the Idlib, Syria de-escalation zone, just across Turkey’s southern border.
Turkish soldiers are working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia under which acts of aggression are prohibited in the region.
But more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by Assad and Russian forces in the zone since then, as the cease-fire continues to be violated.
Thursday’s attack was one of a series since January on Turkish troops, with Turkish officials keeping a pledge that such assaults would not go unanswered.
The de-escalation zone is currently home to 4 million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces throughout the war-torn country.
More than 1.7 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks.
Since the eruption of the bloody civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in some 3.7 million Syrians who fled their country, making it the world’s top refugee hosting country.
