<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday strongly condemned Russia for conducting an air strike that killed dozens of pro-Ankara rebels in Syria.</p>.<p>"Russia's attack on the training centre of the Syrian national army forces in the Idlib region shows it does not want lasting peace in the region," Erdogan said in a televised address.</p>.<p>A Russian warplane on Monday hit a training centre for Turkish-backed fighters in the northwestern Syrian province near Turkish border.</p>.<p>The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack killed 78 fighters in the bloodiest surge in violence since a truce almost eight months ago.</p>.<p>The pro-Ankara group, known as Faylaq al-Sham, retaliated by killing at least 15 Moscow-backed fighters, the monitor said.</p>.<p>Faylaq al-Sham is a Sunni Islamist group that has acted as Turkey's proxy during several Turkish military campaigns on Syrian soil, and has also been the source of pro-Ankara mercenaries sent to fight in Libya.</p>.<p>A truce at the start of the year brought an end to a Russia-backed Syria regime offensive that had killed more than 500 civilians and displaced almost one million people.</p>.<p>It was one of the worst humanitarian crises of Syria's nine-year civil war.</p>.<p>The last major rebel stronghold covers around half of Idlib province as well as slivers of adjacent provinces.</p>
<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday strongly condemned Russia for conducting an air strike that killed dozens of pro-Ankara rebels in Syria.</p>.<p>"Russia's attack on the training centre of the Syrian national army forces in the Idlib region shows it does not want lasting peace in the region," Erdogan said in a televised address.</p>.<p>A Russian warplane on Monday hit a training centre for Turkish-backed fighters in the northwestern Syrian province near Turkish border.</p>.<p>The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack killed 78 fighters in the bloodiest surge in violence since a truce almost eight months ago.</p>.<p>The pro-Ankara group, known as Faylaq al-Sham, retaliated by killing at least 15 Moscow-backed fighters, the monitor said.</p>.<p>Faylaq al-Sham is a Sunni Islamist group that has acted as Turkey's proxy during several Turkish military campaigns on Syrian soil, and has also been the source of pro-Ankara mercenaries sent to fight in Libya.</p>.<p>A truce at the start of the year brought an end to a Russia-backed Syria regime offensive that had killed more than 500 civilians and displaced almost one million people.</p>.<p>It was one of the worst humanitarian crises of Syria's nine-year civil war.</p>.<p>The last major rebel stronghold covers around half of Idlib province as well as slivers of adjacent provinces.</p>