ANKARA - Representatives of NATO members will hold an emergency meeting after Turkey called for consultations following the deaths of its soldiers in Idlib province, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg has said. The meeting has been called under Article 4, which allows any member to request consultations with other allies when they feel that their “territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened,” the short message explained.
This comes after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed and some others were injured during an airstrike in the Syrian province of Idlib.
Russia said the Turkish troops got in harm’s way because they were among ‘terrorist forces’ during the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry added that Turkey didn’t notify them of its forces’ presence in the area of the strike, so Damascus had no reason to believe it was targeting the Turks. (RT)