27 Dec 2024
Wednesday 4 March 2020 - 17:24
Story Code : 371687

The lessons of Idlib

The Wall Street Journal - After nine years of civil war, Syria doesnt get much attention these days. But a Russian-Syrian military offensive in Idlib province is a reminder that the broken countrys problems seldom stay within its borders.

In December the Russia-backed Assad regime began a push to retake Idlib, the countrys last opposition-held province. Turkey has fought a lonely fight against the offensive, which has taken a terrible toll on civilians and has become bloodier in the past week. Last Thursday the regime killed more than 30 Turkish soldiersthe most casualties in a day since Ankara entered the conflict in 2016. The Turks have been retaliating, and its unclear how the offensive will end.

Already some one million refugeesthe biggest displacement in the warhave headed toward the Turkish border. This is a political and practical problem for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is losing patience with the roughly four million refugees it already holds. In 2016 Mr. Erdogan cut a deal with the European Union to house these migrants, but he occasionally threatens to unleash them on Europe.

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