President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed Turkey would not take the "smallest step back" in an escalating stand-off with Damascus and Russia over the northern Syrian region of Idlib.
Meanwhile, a meeting between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is expected to take place, the Turkish foreign minister said, ahead of a possible summit including EU heavyweights Germany and France to find a political solution to the Idlib crisis.
"We will not take the smallest step back in Idlib," Erdogan told the ruling party's lawmakers in parliament in Ankara.
"We will certainly push the regime outside the borders we designated and ensure the return of the people to their homes." Now the epicentre of the nearly nine-year long conflict in Syria, Idlib has in recent weeks become the theatre of conflict between Turkey, which supports rebel groups in the area, and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which is backed by Russia.
Ankara has confirmed as many as 17 Turkish security personnel have been killed this month alone.
Erdogan bluntly warned the Syrian regime to "stop its attacks as soon as possible" and to pull back by the end of February.
As part of its deal with Russia, Turkey has 12 observation posts in Idlib but several have come under fire from Assad forces.
"The time we have given to those who besieged our observation towers is running out," Erdogan said. "We are planning to save our observation posts from the besiegers one way or another by the end of this month."
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