Turkish, Iranian presidents discuss Syria's Idlib over phone

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish president on Saturday spoke over the phone with his Iranian counterpart to discuss the recent situation in Idlib, northwestern Syria, the Turkish Communications Directorate announced on Saturday.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani also discussed the regional issues and bilateral relations, said a directorate statement.

At least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and dozens of others injured in an airstrike on Thursday by Bashar al-Assad regime forces in the Idlib, Syria de-escalation zone, just across Turkey’s southern border.

Turkey has pledged that such assaults would not go unanswered.

The Turkish soldiers are working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia under which acts of aggression are prohibited in the region.

The de-escalation zone is currently home to four million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces throughout the war-torn country.