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Turkey Deploys MIM-23 Hawk Missiles in Syria’s Idlib

Turkish military vehicles patrol near the Syrian town of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib, Sept. 4, 2019. (Getty Images)
Turkish military vehicles patrol near the Syrian town of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib, Sept. 4, 2019. (Getty Images)
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Turkey Deploys MIM-23 Hawk Missiles in Syria’s Idlib

Turkish military vehicles patrol near the Syrian town of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib, Sept. 4, 2019. (Getty Images)
Turkish military vehicles patrol near the Syrian town of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib, Sept. 4, 2019. (Getty Images)

The Turkish army deployed US-made medium-range surface-to-air MIM-23 Hawk missiles in Syria’s Idlib Idlib, satellite images showed.

Shared on social media, the images reveal the location of the air defense system in Al-Mastoumah camp, which is located five kilometers south of Idlib city.

The camp is strategically located along the Idlib-Latakia M4 Highway.

This is not the first time Ankara deploys such a defense system in Syria. In early 2018, Turkey sent the system to Dar Izza in the western Aleppo countryside.

The deployment of the MIM-23 HAWK system means that the Turkish army will no longer need to rely on fighter jets and drones to down Syrian regime fighter jets.

Sources at the Syrian armed opposition justified the deployment of the defense system as being part of Turkish measures to protect its borders against any regime attacks.

The HAWK system was developed in the 1960s but has been improved over the years. It has the ability to destroy aircraft flying at an altitude of up to 20 kilometers and has a range of 40 kilometers.

Local sources in Idlib noticed an unprecedented movement of Turkish military forces in Idlib, particularly following Saturday’s visit by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar to the border with Syria, where the army is pushing military reinforcements to Idlib.

A column of dozens of Turkish vehicles was seen crossing into Syrian territory, via the Kafr Lusin crossing.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.