Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the Syrian government was violating a ceasefire in the northwestern Idlib region, warning that
Damascus would suffer "heavy losses" if it persisted.
Turkey and
Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria's war, agreed on March 5 to halt hostilities in northwestern
Syria after an escalation of clashes there displaced nearly a million people and brought the two sides close to confrontation.
Speaking in Istanbul after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the Syrian government was using the
Coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to ramp up violence in Idlib, and added that
Turkey would not allow any "dark groups" in the region to violate the ceasefire either.