Turkey Sends Tanks to the Syrian Border

Описание: Turkey is transporting tanks by train to the Syrian border as tensions rise in Idlib between Turkish and Syrian regime forces, Tuesday, February 11.

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READ MORE: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that there will be "a very, very heavy price" to pay if Syrian regime forces continue to attack Turkish soldiers.

The warning Tuesday came a day after five Turkish soldiers were killed by Syrian government forces in Syria's northern Idlib province.

Turkey has ramped up its military presence across Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria, since the killing one week ago of eight Turkish soldiers in Idlib by Syrian government forces.

More than 250 military vehicles have entered the province in the last few days.

The United Nations said Monday that Damascus's Idlib offensive had displaced close to 700,000 people since December.

The province, which borders Turkey, hosts around 3 million people. Ankara says more than one million Syrians escaping the latest fighting have headed for Turkey's border.

With Turkey hosting more than 3.5 million Syrians, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly warned that his country cannot take any more people fleeing the nearly nine-year civil war.

While Turkey backs the Syrian rebels and Russia, the Syrian government, Ankara and Moscow have been cooperating to resolve the civil war.

Russian-Turkish tensions are set to escalate over Idlib, with Russia's missile defense system shutting out Turkish fighter jets from Syrian air space.

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LINK: https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/t...