Politics of Syria

Turkey, trying to honor the Sochi agreement with Russia on Idlib, Syria, urges all sides to the conflict to keep their word and work toward stability, said Turkish communications director on Feb. 22 on Twitter.

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.

Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday called on Turkey to refrain from making provocative statements about events in Syria amid rising tensions over the Syrian province of Idlib.

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.

Europe may face a new wave of refugees if it does not pay heed to Turkey's warnings on the situation in the Syrian province of Idlib, said Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Ömer Çelik.

"If Turkey's warnings are not taken into consideration, we warn everyone that a refugee exodus will affect Europe to a large extent,"" said Çelik, quoted by the Anadolu Agency.

A senior member of the Syrian Islamist group, Jaish al-Islam, has been detained in France and charged with war crimes and torture.

The man, born in 1988, is a former spokesman for the group and has been in France with a student visa under the Erasmus program. He was detained in Marseille.

Around 31,600 more civilians have fled their homes in Idlib de-escalation zone in Syria over the last two days due to attacks by the regime and its allies.

According to Syria's Response Coordination Group, the displaced civilians headed to areas near the Turkish border due to the attacks that violate a cease-fire agreement between Turkey and Russia.

Iran acknowledged on Jan. 21 that its armed forces fired two Russian anti-aircraft missiles at a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed after taking off from Tehran's main airport earlier this month, killing all 176 people on board.

Aid deliveries to millions of Syrian civilians were hanging in the balance on Jan. 9 ahead of the expiration of a United Nations mandate authorizing cross-border humanitarian convoys from Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.

U.S. Special Envoy for Syria James Jeffrey will travel to Turkey and Saudi Arabia this week to discuss regional issues, the State Department said Jan. 8.