{"id":55031,"date":"2020-02-05T20:24:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T20:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/05\/turkey-demands-syrian-army-exit-rebel-areas-threatens-force\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:59:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:59:41","slug":"turkey-demands-syrian-army-exit-rebel-areas-threatens-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2020\/02\/05\/turkey-demands-syrian-army-exit-rebel-areas-threatens-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey demands Syrian army exit rebel areas, threatens force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ANKARA, Turkey \u2014 Turkey\u2019s president threatened Wednesday to use force against Syrian government forces if they don\u2019t pull back to an earlier cease-fire line in northern Syria by the end of the month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s remarks to members of his ruling party followed rare direct clashes Monday between Turkish and Syrian troops inside Syria, which killed several Turkish and Syrian personnel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syrian President Bashar Assad\u2019s forces have been advancing deeper into the northwestern province of Idlib, the country\u2019s last rebel stronghold<\/a>, since December. Turkey \u2014 a strong backer of some of the rebels \u2014 has a dozen military observation posts in Idlib province, which borders Turkey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the (Assad) regime does not retreat to areas behind the observations posts, Turkey will be forced to take matters into its own hands,\u201d Erdogan said. He said two of the Turkish observation posts are now behind Syrian lines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The observation posts were set up as part of an agreement reached in 2018 with Russia \u2014 a main supporter of Assad \u2014 to monitor a cease-fire that has since collapsed. <\/p>\n\n\n\t