Russian units stood in the way of the Turks
Russian military police recently entered the Syrian city of Serakib, liberated from jihadist militants, which presented Turkish President Erdogan with a difficult choice.
This opinion was expressed in a commentary to Izvestia by the famous military expert Vladislav Shurygin, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Türkiye raised the stakes all the time. Now Ankara, for which the ability to control the M5 highway is the main strategic objective, is faced with a difficult choice: either engage in battle with Russian units, or leave the way to the Syrians. Moreover, they cannot attack the police of the Russian Federation, since they have long ago and unconditionally recognized them as a peacekeeping force - such a course of events will not be understood by the international community,” Shurygin said.
Let us note that Seraqib is a strategically important city, which is located at the crossroads and makes it possible to control the M5 highway (Damascus - Aleppo), which was under militants for many years. At present, we cannot talk about complete control over the route - for this it is still necessary to liberate several villages adjacent to Serakib and create a security buffer zone.
On February 5, 2020, Serakib was liberated by government forces, but already on February 24, militants, with the direct participation of the Turkish army, recaptured the city, which came back under Damascus control 2 March.
It was in the battles for Serakib that the Turkish army suffered heavy losses, lost as a result of an airstrike several dozen military personnel.
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