US says it will coordinate with Turkey in Idlib

The U.S. will continue to coordinate with Turkey in Idlib, Syria where an ongoing offensive has displaced nearly 900,000 civilians since December, Washington's envoy to the U.N. Kelly Craft said on Feb. 19.

Speaking at the U.N. Security Council meeting in New York, Craft said Washington "unequivocally" rejects statements by Russian officials "falsely blaming Turkey for the escalation of the violence" in northwest Syria.

"The United States will continue to coordinate with Turkey on diplomatic approaches to restore a cease-fire to the Idlib de-escalation zone and achieve a pullback of Assad regime forces to 2018 Sochi ceasefire," said Craft. "There is no doubt that the Assad regime and Russia, not Turkey, are responsible for orchestrating and executing this military offensive."

In addition, along with the U.S., the envoys for the U.K. and Germany called for an end to Syrian regime attacks on Turkey's observation posts in Idlib.

Turkey not to abandon Idlib observation posts

In the meantime, Ankara'S U.N. envoy Feridun Sinirlioğlu said that Turkey is not abandoning the observation posts in Idlib.

Speaking at the U.N.SC meeting, Sinirlioğlu said Turkey will continue to respond by all necessary means against any attacks by the Bashar al-Assad regime on Turkish troops.

"We will not withdraw our forces and we will not abandon our observation posts. It is the regime who should withdraw from its current positions until the end of this month," said Sinirlioğlu.

He said Turkish security forces are in Idlib to stabilize the situation and to preserve the de-escalation area.

"Our military presence and reinforcements are fully in line with the Sochi Memorandum of September 2018.

"The only...