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The Last 24 Hours in Syria, February 5

Zurab Batashvili, Research Fellow at Rondeli Foundation 

• The president of Turkey and Russia talked over the phone, but they failed to reach an agreement to de-escalate the ongoing conflict in Idlib province, Syria. 
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Syria to withdraw its troops from its military observation posts in northwestern Idlib province, otherwise, “Turkey will be obliged to take matters into its own hands,” he says. 
• Russian and Syrian government forces keep striking Idlib province, occupying some settlements in the southeastern part of Idlib and besieging another Turkish observation mission;
• A new big wave of refugees has moved from Idlib to Turkey. According to the UN, more than 520,000 Syrians have been displaced over the last two months. 80% of them are women and children;
• Omer Çelik, a spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Revival Party, said that this problem would also affect Europe to a large extent
• Turkey sent additional military convoys to Idlib province;
• The US condemned the assault organized by the Assad regime and supported Turkey's actions;
• Russian media has published anti-Turkish stories accusing Ankara of promoting jihadists.