Turkey repeats warning to Syria regime against ceasefire violations in Idlib even as regime forces are set to take over a key highway in the explosive region
"We on every occasion say 'do not force us, otherwise our Plan B and Plan C are ready'," Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar tells Hurriyet newspaper. Meanwhile, Syrian regime is set to retake key M5 highway, a war monitor says.
"If the agreement kept being violated, we have Plan B and Plan C," Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said, in an interview with the"We on every occasion say 'do not force us, otherwise our Plan B and Plan C are ready'."He did not give details but referred to Ankara's military campaigns in Syria since 2016.
Since Friday, Turkey has shipped large convoys of vehicles carrying commandos, tanks, and howitzers to shore up its military posts in Idlib. Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, says it cannot absorb any more and has demanded Damascus pull back in Idlib by the end of the month or face Turkish action.
"Our primary goal is to prevent migration and humanitarian tragedy. We are working to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible and stop the bloodshed," Akar said.Also on Sunday, regime forces were set to retake a key motorway connecting the capital Damascus to second city Aleppo following weeks of battles in the region, a war monitor said.
After weeks of steady regime advances in Syria's northwest, only a two-kilometre section of the M5 remains outside regime control said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
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