Presidency Briefs US Diplomats on Idlib Operation

Source and photo: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Turkey's presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın yesterday (March 4) briefed senior US diplomats about Ankara's ongoing operation in northwestern Syria.

Kalın told Kelly Craft, Washington's ambassador to the UN, and James Jeffrey, the US special envoy for Syria, that Operation Spring Shield was aimed at a peaceful political solution in Syria.

The meeting in the capital Ankara lasted one-and-a-half hours.

The officials touched upon a host of issues including the refugee crisis and the recent escalation in Syria's restive province of Idlib.

Kalın said Turkey's operation in Idlib is being carried out within the framework of the right to self-defense, following Syria's attack on Turkey's troops.

During the meeting, the importance of solidarity within NATO was stressed.

Turkey launched Operation Spring Shield on Sunday (March 1) after at least 34 Turkish soldiers lost their lives in an airstrike by Syria's army in Idlib on February 27.

Just across Turkey's southern border, Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in the Sochi deal between Turkey and Russia in late 2018. (EKN/VK)