Russia refused to stop the Syrian army, Turkey triggered Article 4 of NATO treaty

By Boyko Nikolov On Feb 28, 2020

MOSCOW, (BM) – Russia refused to stop the Syrian army in the fight against militants, learned BulgarianMilitary.com. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow cannot prevent her from responding to terrorists in Idlib, TASS reports.

BREAKING: A Russian large-scale air strike killed dozens Turkish soldiers in Syria

Lavrov said that Russia is fully committed to agreements with Turkey on the situation in the region, and Ankara should fulfill its part. “It’s another matter that you still have to start fulfilling these goals, since nothing has worked out for a year and a half and in response to the constant violations of the ceasefire from within this Idlib zone, the Syrian army, of course, has every right to respond and suppress terrorists,” – said the minister.

The Foreign Minister noted that Moscow cannot prevent the terrorists from responding in Idlib. This is due to the fact that it is impossible “to prohibit the Syrian army from fulfilling the requirements that are recorded in UN Security Council resolutions on the merciless, uncompromising fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”

On the night of February 28, the Turkish army attacked the positions of the Syrian army in Idlib and destroyed a convoy of government troops. The attack was a response to the shelling of Turkish troops in the Jebel al-Zawiya region, which killed 33 troops. Turkey promised to avenge Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the deaths of soldiers.

As a result of the offensive in January-February, the Syrian army occupied almost half of the Idlib de-escalation zone and left behind Turkish observation posts. This outraged Ankara, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that if by the end of February the Syrian troops are not withdrawn from the line of posts, the Turkish army will begin a military operation.

The North Atlantic Council, which includes the ambassadors of all 29 NATO Allies, will meet on Friday 28 February, following a request by Turkey to hold consultations under article 4 of NATO’s founding Washington Treaty on the situation in Syria.

Under article 4 of the Treaty, any Ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

“Today, the NATO council meets at Turkey’s request to consult under Article 4 of NATO’s founding Washington Treaty on the situation in Syria,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in a tweet.

Stoltenberg will hold a news conference after the meeting.

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BulgarianMilitary.com
Editorial team / Lenta.ru, NATO