Assad

Ankara and Moscow continue to cooperate to reach an agreement on a lasting cease-fire for conflicting parties in Idlib, northwestern Syria, but the issue should not be allowed to harm Russian-Turkish ties, according to Turkey's foreign minister.

A Turkish delegation will visit Russia on Feb. 17 to discuss the situation in Idlib in northwestern Syria, according to Turkey's top diplomat, after a recent spike in violence in the region.

"The Turkish delegation on [Feb. 17] will attend talks in Moscow [on Idlib]," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu

A Syrian opposition group reported on Feb. 14 that they downed a Syrian regime helicopter in a "de-escalation zone" in northwest Syria.

The helicopter was hit directly while flying over the western Aleppo province, in a rural area of Aleppo that falls within the de-escalation zone of the neighboring province of Idlib.

Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar had separate meetings with his British and French counterparts in Brussels on Feb. 13.

Akar visited NATO headquarters on the second day of NATO defense ministers meeting.

He met with U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace before attending a session on defense, deterrence and burden-sharing.

Turkish and U.S. officials met on Feb. 12 in the capital Ankara to discuss the latest developments in northwestern Syria.

Deputy Defense Minister Yunus Emre Karaosmanoğlu, U.S. special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey and U.S. ambassador to Turkey Michael Satterfield exchanged views on regional security issues, especially the situation in Idlib province.

U.S. warplanes carried out at least one airstrike in Syria's northeast Hasakah region after an incident at a checkpoint where U.S. soldiers killed one regime soldier, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Feb. 12.

Anadolu Agency said that U.S. warplanes hit two of the Syrian regime's military bases in Hasakah.

The U.S. special envoy for Syria visited Turkey on Feb. 11 to re-evaluate the recent developments in the region.

Speaking to reporters at Ankara's Esenboğa International Airport, James Jeffrey said Turkey, as a NATO ally, encountered a great threat in Idlib, northwestern Syria, coming from the Assad regime and Russia.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli on Feb. 11 condemned an attack by the Syrian regime on Turkish troops in Idlib province of Syria and called on the Turkish government to reassess its relations with Russia, Damascus' main ally.

James Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for Syria engagement and fight against ISIL, will pay a visit to Turkey on Feb. 12 amid recent escalation in Syria's last rebel bastion of Idlib, a province in the country's northwest.

Delegations from Turkey and Russia will meet on Feb. 10 for a second time following a weekend session in the Turkish capital Ankara.