ANKARA, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkey warned on Tuesday the Syrian government "not to play with fire," a day after a Turkish military convoy was attacked by an airstrike in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.
"The (Syrian) government should not play with fire ... As we have previously said, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure the security of our soldiers and observation posts," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a press conference.
"We should focus on the political process. We will accelerate our efforts in this bid in the upcoming period," he added.
On Monday, three civilians were killed in an airstrike on a Turkish military convoy moving south toward the ninth observation point, Turkey's Defense Ministry said.
According to Cavusoglu, Turkey would not remove its observation post located near Morek at the moment.
Turkey's ninth observation post is surrounded by the forces of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad after the government forces took control of the key town of Khan Sheikhoun in northwestern Syria.
Asked about discussions with Russia, one of the sponsors of the cease-fire deal for Idlib, the Turkish minister said Ankara and Moscow are having dialogues on all levels, as officials of both sides, including the chiefs of general staff, had a phone conversation after the incident.
Cavusoglu slammed the Syrian government for pushing military solution because "it does not believe much on the political process."
Concerning Russia's claim that rebels in the region have been attacking its Hmeimim Air Base, Cavusoglu said "Russia's statement of harassment coming from there is not valid now."
Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone that prohibited acts of aggression.
The deal, however, has largely failed despite several attempts to revive it.
