ISTANBUL - Turkey has made the necessary military preparations in northwestern Syria and told Russian counterparts it was determined to push Bashar al-Assad regime to previous boundaries, spokesman of ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party said on Tuesday. Omer Celik said Turkey completed necessary military preparations in Syria and it would take necessary steps if the Syrian regime did not withdraw to the previous borderline set by de-escalation deal. Celik underlined that Russia, an ally of the Syrian regime, was “clearly” informed about Turkey’s stance in the region. With 148,000 people displaced in Idlib city in the past six days, the number of displaced people in Idlib and neighboring areas since January 2019 has reached nearly 2 million, most of them taking shelter in areas close to the bordering Turkey, which already hosts over 3.6 million Syrian refugees. Tens of thousands of people, including women and children, are in need of humanitarian assistance as the camps they take shelter in lack basic facilities. They face great difficulty meeting their food and healthcare needs. Regime forces backed by allies Iran and Russia have been trying to capture the Aleppo countryside and parts of neighboring Idlib province, a stronghold of opposition forces in the war-torn country. Besides a refugee crisis, their advances have also affected cooperation between Moscow and Ankara, which sent its troops to Idlib as part of the 2017 Astana and 2018 Sochi accords that sought de-escalation. But regime forces, its allies, and militias loyal to it continue to violate the cease-fire.