BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has said Turkish support was the main factor that helped insurgents to seize the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib from his government's control last month. Idlib, a short drive from the Turkish border, is only the second provincial capital to fall to insurgents in the four-year-old civil war. It was captured by an alliance of Islamist groups including Al-Qaeda's Syrian arm, the Nusra Front. “Any war weakens any army, not matter how strong, no matter how modern,” Assad said in an interview with Swedish newspaper Expressen, published on Friday. In the fall of Idlib, “the main factor was the huge support that came through Turkey; logistic support, and military support.” A Turkish government spokesman denied the claim. Turkey is one of the states most hostile to Assad. The Syrian conflict is estimated to have killed around 220,000 people. Assad has lost control over much of the north and east while trying to shore up his control over the main population centers in the west, with the help of allies including Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. — Reuters
