'Turkey should give necessary answer to deadly attack'

ANKARA

A Turkish opposition party leader on Tuesday urged the government to respond in force to a deadly attack on Turkish soldiers by the Assad regime.

"For the scum who martyred our Turkish soldiers, bring down the world around them," Meral Aksener, leader of the Good (IYI) Party, told her party's parliamentary group.

"Show the power of the Turkish nation and Turkish state with the state will by not making any domestic policy calculations," Aksener said.

Monday’s Assad regime attacks in Idlib, northwestern Syria, near the area Turkey has carried out anti-terrorism operations, martyred seven Turkish soldiers and one civilian contractor working with the Turkish military. Thirteen other individuals were injured but are in good condition, according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.

"Do the necessary thing without any hesitation as soon as possible," Aksener added.

After the deadly attack, Turkey struck over 50 targets in retaliation and killed 76 Syrian soldiers, according to Akar.

Idlib has been a stronghold of opposition and anti-government armed groups since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

It is currently home to some four million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces from throughout the war-weary country.

Turkey and Russia agreed in September 2018 to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited. The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the zone and killing at least 1,300 civilians since the agreement.