22 Turkish Soldiers Confirmed Killed in Syria as Ankara Intensifies Support for Jihadist Militants Against Damascus

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has chaired an emergency meeting on Syria in response to the confirmed deaths of 22 Turkish soldiers in the country on February 27th. This comes amid a large scale counteroffensive by the Syrian Arab Army with Russian support to restore sovereignty over the country’s northern province of Idlib, which haas been under the control of Al Qaeda linked militants since 2012. Turkey has provided considerable support including advanced weaponry to jihadists based in Idlib, and from early February has begun to increase direct fire support to militant groups and directly target Syrian units with air and artillery strikes. With the Turkish President pledging to ensure the province remains outside Syrian control, the country’s military involvement in the are has continued to grow with considerable casualties suffered. Turkish military intervention in Syria and a Turkish military presence in the country remain illegal under international law - as violations of Syrian territory carried out without either Damascus’ consent or a mandate from the Untied Nations Security Council. Idlib under Turkish protection has been described by U.S. Military sources as the largest Al Qaeda safe haven since 2001 - with jihadist militias there numbering in the tens of thousands.