https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/w...base-rrlpdwqpgSyrian forces surround Turkish military base
Assad regime forces have encircled a Turkish military observation post, setting up a tense standoff as they continue to press into rebel-held territory in the northwest of Syria.
Syrian state media said that government troops seized the villages of Latamneh, Latmeen, Kfar Zeita and Lahaya today, along with the village of Morek, where Turkey maintains its military post, closing a rebel pocket of control in southern Idlib province. The
army’s recent gains also include parts of the northern Hama countryside that had been under rebel control since 2012, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Government forces are stationed on high points east of Morek, it added.
The Turkish observation post is one of 12 established as part of a “buffer zone” deal between Syria’s ally Russia and Ankara, which has long provided weapons and training to various opposition factions.
On Monday an airstrike hit close to a Turkish convoy heading for Morek. Mevlut Cavusoglu, the foreign minister, warned Damascus “not to play with fire” and said that Ankara would “do whatever is necessary to ensure the security of our soldiers and observation posts”. With no land route into or out of the encircled post, it is not yet clear how that could now be accomplished.....