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Erdogan slams Russia as regime offensive sends Idlib residents fleeing for Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Moscow is not upholding the Astana and Sochi cease-fire agreements after Syrian regime forces retook a key city in Idlib Wednesday, sending a new wave of displaced civilians toward the Turkish border.
A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC28PE9U8LCB

ISTANBUL — An estimated 120,000 people have been displaced across Syria’s Idlib province in the last two weeks as Russian-backed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad retook a key city Tuesday.

The displaced population joins hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled fighting in northwest Syria despite a Jan. 12 cease-fire agreement brokered by officials in Ankara and Moscow who back opposing sides in a nine-year-old conflict that has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives.

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