HATAY, SYRIA
Over a hundred jihadist Turkish soldiers were killed in a successful airstrike by the Syrian regime after Turkish fighter planes entered Idlib airspace on Thursday.
The London based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that at least 34 people have died in the areas of Jabal al-Zawiya, Zakum and Sahl al-Gab.
Hundreds of soldiers killed
According to the Mezopotamya Agency (MA) report citing local sources, the Public Hospital in Reyhalı district of Hatay province bordering Syria has been closed to civilians amid repeated announcements for blood donation. The MA report says: “Reports are coming through that the bodies of 100 soldiers have been brought to the hospital and dozens of others are wounded. Bodies of 32 soldiers and dozens of wounded soldiers have been brought to the new public hospital in Hatay. People have gathered outside hospitals and there is an intense military activity along the border. The border area of Oğulpınar has been declared military restricted zone and reports say that some villages at the border will be evacuated. The intensive care unit of İskenderun Public Hospital has also been closed. Reports say that all the hospitals in Hatay will be closed for the treatment of wounded soldiers.”
Voice recordings
A person who claims to be in Reyhan state hospital shared voice recordings on social media. The person said: “We counted 58 martyrs in the morgue section. Currently, martyrs are still coming to the hospital.”
Another person said, “We sent 25-30 martyrs to Hatay State Hospital with a Hedgehog. The situation is serious, there are also many injured .”
Another person with a tearful voice said, “This place is really bad, they bring martyrs. The vehicles are full of martyrs. May Allah help everyone here. ”
Russia’s response
Russia said Ankara failed to inform it that Turkish troops were fighting alongside rebels in Idlib – comments denied by Turkey.
“Turkish soldiers who were in the battle formations of terrorist groups came under the fire of Syrian troops,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement.
Russian state television reported Turkish military specialists were using shoulder-fired missiles to try to shoot down Russian and Syrian military aircraft over Idlib.
At the time of these developments, the Russian Ministry of Defense made a statement. “The Turkish state continues to support illegal armed groups in the field of Idlib conflict, in violation of Sochi agreement,” the Ministry of Defense said.
The Ministry stated that Turkey has also started to use drones, noting that a Turkish drone was dropped on Tuesday crossing the border to hit Syrian troops.
The parties had reached an agreement in Sochi, Russia in 2018. The agreement envisaged the creation of observation points in the Idlib region. However, this deal has been broken practically in recent weeks.
NATO
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jan Asselborn confirmed today that Turkey would not have the right to request the implementation of Article 5 of the NATO Charter because Turkey did not consult NATO about its military operation in Idlib.
According to the Secretary-General of NATO, support for Turkey is limited to protecting Turkish airspace, saying: “We continue to support Turkey through measures, including strengthening its air defences.”
Men of the state meet
Turkish state officials gathered at the Security Summit in Beştepe. According to the Turkish media, the summit, headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was attended by the National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Chief of General Staff Yaşar Güler, force commanders and MIT President Hakan Fidan.
Fascist Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu also met with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg on the phone.
In addition, Hatay Governor Rahmi Doğan was in a rush to hide his losses. He claimed that 9 Turkish soldiers had died. The governor made a second statement and suggested that the number was 22.
Access restriction on social media
Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) President Ebubekir Şahin warned the press institutions and instructed them not to give information other than the figures given by the Turkish government officials.
During the night, Turkish Presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın made a telephone conversation with US National Security Advisor Ambassador Robert O’Brien. No explanation has been given yet regarding the content of the interview.
Blackout
According to the data of netblocks.org, Twitter became unavailable across Turkey as of 11:30 p.m. local time on Thursday for users of national provider Turk Telekom following the attack. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Messenger are now blocked via multiple internet providers in Turkey.
The website shared that “at 16 hours, the blackout surpassed restrictions during the 2016 coup attempt, Russian Ambassador Karlov’s assassination and two of the three Ankara bombings in duration”
