2020 Balyun airstrikes

On 27 February 2020, during the Dawn of Idlib 2 Operation, a joint airstrike was executed by the Russian and Syrian Air Forces against a convoy of the Turkish Army stationed in Balyun, within the Idlib Governorate. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reported that the assault resulted in the loss of 33 Turkish soldiers.^[1] However, alternative sources close to Turkey, suggested a significantly higher death toll, ranging from 50 to 70 casualties, marking it as the most lethal attack on Turkish forces since their engagement in the Syrian Civil War commenced.^[3][7][8][9] The assault also inflicted injuries on an estimated 36 to 60 soldiers, with 16 of them reported to be in a critical state.^[6][4] This incident represented the most substantial loss of life experienced by the Turkish Army on foreign territory since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.^[10] In response to this attack, the Turkish Armed Forces initiated Operation Spring Shield in the province of Idlib.

2020 Balyun airstrikes
Part of the Northwestern Syrian civil war offensive
Location	Balyun, Idlib Governorate, Syria
Target	Turkish Armed Forces
Date	27 February 2020
Executed by	Russian Air Force (denied by Russia) Syrian Arab Air Force
Casualties	33 soldiers killed[a] 50–70 soldiers killed (per other sources)[3][4][5] 36–60 wounded[6][4]

The strikes

At around 11 a.m. on 27 February 2020, a pair of Russian Sukhoi Su-34s accompanied by two Syrian Su-22 fighter bombers initiated a series intensive of bombing raids on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces in the southern countryside of Syria's Idlib province. As per Russian sources, following 1 p.m., Turkish troops launched over 15 attacks using MANPADS against the Russian and Syrian jets. There were reports of certain Russian aircraft allegedly sustaining damage while evading the barrage of fire.^[4]

At around 5 p.m., a convoy consisting of a 400-man Turkish mechanized infantry battalion came under attack by an airstrike while traveling on the road between al-Bara and Balyun, about five kilometers north of Kafr Nabl. The convoy was first halted by a light airstrike carried out by a Su-22 aircraft. Subsequently, a second bombing forced 80 Turkish soldiers from the 65th Mechanised Infantry Brigade to seek shelter in nearby buildings.^[10] According to Al-Monitor, it is suspected that the Russian jets dropped KAB-1500L bombs, resulting in the collapse of two buildings and trapping several soldiers under the debris.

Turkish retaliation

Further information: Operation Spring Shield

In response to this attack, the Turkish Armed Forces initiated Operation Spring Shield in the province of Idlib. Fighter aircraft, combat drones and ground fire were used in the retaliation.^[11] Turkish combat drones entered Syrian airspace while Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jets launched long range precision-guided munitions without entering Syrian airspace, according to Turkish sources.^[12] According to independent estimates, the retaliatory strikes resulted in the death of approximately 197 to 405 Syrian forces.^[13][14] However, the Turkish Defense Ministry had a significantly higher figure, claiming that the Syrian forces' casualties amounted to 3,138.^[15]

Reactions

• Greece: On 29 February 2020, the Greek delegation to NATO blocked a joint declaration intended to support Turkey regarding its military operation in Syria. According to Kathimerini, the reason for the veto was because the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany denied a Greek demand to add a paragraph regarding the issue of refugees from Turkey to Greece.^[16][17]

• Russia: The following day, the Russian government denied it carried out airstrikes in the area and stated it made attempts to ensure the Syrian military ceased firing to allow the evacuation of the Turkish troops, but claimed that Turkish forces should not have been in the area, where "counter-terror operations" were taking place, and that Turkey failed to notify it about the soldiers' presence in advance.^[4] The Turkish government claimed that the Russian military had already been notified of Turkish troop locations, as the two militaries had regularly liaised about these.^[18]

• Turkey: Protests against Russia occurred at the Russian Consulate in Istanbul the day following the strikes.^[9] The Turkish cabinet had an emergency meeting concerning the airstrikes. The Turkish government then threatened retaliation against the Syrian government for the strikes, and began to encourage Syrian refugees to enter Greece and Bulgaria.^[19] In addition, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, concerning the incident.^[20]

• United States: On 2 March 2020, the U.S. Secretary of Defence Mark Esper denied US air support for Turkey in Idlib. The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley stated that the U.S. did not "have clear" intelligence of who was flying the planes that carried out the strike.^[21] On 17 March 2020, the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced new rounds of sanctions against Syrian government officials and also for the first time publicly accused Russia for being responsible for the deaths of Turkish troops in Syria, saying "We believe Russia has killed dozens of Turkish military personnel in the course of their military operation," but without naming a specific incident.^[22][23]

Aftermath

Since a direct military confrontation was too risky, Ankara supported Russia’s adversaries in other conflicts, particularly in Ukraine and Libya. From April to June 2020, Turkey used Libya as a counterfront against Russia to put pressure on Moscow after the events in Syria and to weaken Wagner mercenaries. ^[24] Turkish drone strikes and air operations caused significant Russian losses, which can be seen as indirect retaliation for Idlib. ^[25] As a further response to tensions with Russia in Syria, particularly after the airstrike on Turkish troops in Balyun (February 2020), Turkey intensified its military cooperation with Ukraine. The Turkish drone deliveries to Ukraine were not a direct retaliation for the attack in Balyun, but they were part of a broader strategy to pressure Russia in multiple regions simultaneously, particularly in Syria, Libya, and Ukraine. ^[26]

On 27 February 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine bombarded Russian forces with Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones at the Kherson International Airport at Chornobaivka. The Ukrainian embassy in Ankara reacted to these airstrikes, describing them as "revenge" against Russia for the 2020 Baylun incident and declaring that "there is such a thing as divine justice".^[27]

Notes

1. Per Turkey and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.^[1][2]