ANKARA, Feburary 28. /TASS/. Turkey will now recognize all elements of the Syrian government forces as hostile targets, spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Omer Celik said.

"All elements of the Syrian regime have now become targets. Turkey now recognizes all Assad regime elements as hostile targets," Celik was quoted by the Sabah newspaper as saying.

He added that Turkey's migration policy remains unchanged but Ankara will no longer contain the flow of Syrian refugees to Europe.

The situation in Idlib escalated at the start of February after Russian and Turkish militaries made another attempt to impose a ceasefire regime, but terrorists only stepped up their attacks in response. Last week Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Ankara was ready to use its full combat power in case an operation in Idlib was needed. Erdogan added that the start of a military campaign in Idlib is only a matter of time and that all preparations had been made.

Idlib is the only region of Syria that is still mostly controlled by illegal armed groups. In 2017, a northern de-escalation zone was set up there, and militants who refused to lay down arms in Eastern Gouta near Damascus and in southern parts of Syria moved there.