Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey has warned that the regime of President Bashar Assad could recapture Syria’s second largest city.

Officials said the Syrian Army and Hizbullah were making steady progress in their siege of Aleppo. They said the regime could be aiming to drive Sunni rebels out of Aleppo over the next few weeks through a ground invasion.

“We are watching the developments in Aleppo with concern,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. “Though the city is not on the verge of falling, it is under extreme pressure.”

Officials said Turkey has been debating measures to save Aleppo from a massive onslaught by Assad and his Iranian allies. They said Ankara could support a truce that might result in the withdrawal of most of the estimated 10,000 rebels from the city.

Rebels were believed to be holding about 20 percent of Aleppo. In October, the army together with Hizbullah and other Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias captured what was termed a strategic area that produced weapons.

On Nov. 4, Davutoglu discussed the Assad siege of Aleppo with the military’s General Staff. The prime minister later said that the Syrian regime was killing a large number of rebels and civilians through daily barrel bomb strikes northeast and west of Aleppo.

On Nov. 6, the Syrian Air Force continued barrel bomb strikes on Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 people were killed on a rebel-held district of the city.

Officials said many of the rebels inside Aleppo were receiving supplies and weapons from Turkey, which has called for a safe haven zone in northern Syria. They said the fall of Aleppo would trigger a massive flow of refugees
into Turkey.

“If Aleppo were to fall, we in Turkey would really be confronted with a large, very serious, worrisome refugee crisis,” Davutoglu said. “This is why we want a safe zone.”

  Hizbullah’s gains in Aleppo, Turkey sounds alarm on Syria’s, WorldTribune.com