Turkey’s president urges Syrian gov’t to withdraw from Turkish observation posts in Idlib

   ANKARA, Feb.5 -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday urged the Syrian government forces to retreat from Turkish observation posts in Syria's Idlib province by the end of February.
   "I told Mr. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin last night about the regime's retreat to the boundaries of the observation points. We hope that the regime will fall behind our observation points in February. The Republic of Turkey will be obliged to do this work if the regime does not," Erdogan addressed his party members at the parliament. 
   Turkey's air and land forces will move freely and launch operations in all operation areas in Syria, including in Idlib, and they will conduct operations if necessary, he said. 
   "The attacks on our troops is a turning point in Syria for Turkey," he added, referring to a recent attack by the Syrian government forces on Turkish troops, which killed seven Turkish soldiers. 
   "The Syrian government is violating the cease-fire in Idlib," he noted, adding that "at the point, we see that safe zone reconciliations do not work in either Idlib or the Peace Spring Operation region." 
   Turkish Defense Ministry said that at least seven Turkish soldiers and one civilian have been killed in Idlib on Monday during an attack launched by the Syrian government, while the Syrian state media denied there were any casualties. Xinhua