Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow to discuss a ceasefire in Syria; Receiving no help from Europe, Erdogan threatens to let more refugees into Europe; Erdogan: I hope there will be a ceasefire swiftly established.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Moscow to begin discussion of a ceasefire in Syria after both nations suffered serious loss last week. While Turkey is giving aid to some of the Syrian rebels, Russia backs the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad. The two country’s involvement in the Syrian civil war is now causing them to meet head-to-head.
Early in their discussion, it’s reported that Putin expressed remorse for the several Turkish troops that were killed in strikes by the Syrian Army in Idlib last week, hoping they can avoid anything similar moving forward. Both countries are considering what steps they can take to ease the tension. Prior to speaking with Putin, Erdogan stated, “I hope there will be a ceasefire swiftly established.”
Over 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike last week which led Turkey to declare a new military operation against the Assad regime known as operation ‘Spring Shield’. Since implementing its new military operation, Turkey boasts of destroying several Syrian targets.
On top of the drama surrounding Idlib, due to lack of response from Europe regarding requests for assistance from Turkish President Erdogan, Ankara is now threatening to release hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees into Europe. Such a move would be catastrophic for Europe who is still struggling with the aftermath of the current immigration crisis as well as the spread of the coronavirus. Sadly, the victim in all of this is these refugees who are being either slaughtered in their hometown or driven from their country.
