Ramping up political and military pressure against Ankara, different actors inside Syria and cross-border separatist Kurdish militias based in Iraq have attacked several Turkish army positions. 

Apart from battleground realities, international political opposition also signaled greater challenges heading Ankara’s way.

Turkish soldiers, on different occasions, were killed by Kurdish fire and Syrian regime airstrikes in northern Syria.

“Four Turkish soldiers were killed and two others wounded in two separate attacks by Kurdish militants on Saturday,” the Turkish defense ministry said.

“One Turkish soldier was killed and another was wounded in an attack by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in the mainly Kurdish-controlled northern Syrian region of Tel Rifaat,” the defense ministry added.

Meanwhile, Syrian regime forces and their Russian allies pounded the rebel-held northwest, which includes Aleppo, Idlib and Hama of Syria with air strikes with artillery hitting a Turkish military position there. The ariel bombardment targeted de-escalation zones which were established by an agreement between regime-backer Moscow and Ankara, which supports opposition factions in the north.

Turkey has set up about 10 military outposts around Idlib and has been reinforced by troops and equipment as part of an agreement with Russia to stabilize the area and reduce the escalation of violence in the province.

Separately, three Turkish soldiers were killed and another wounded in the southeastern Turkish province of Hakkari, which borders northern Iraq after the Kurdistan Workers' Party militants carried out a cross-border shelling.

As for Turkey’s ties with the world, the US Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said that the Pentagon will halt manufacturing support for the F-35 fighter jets in Turkey if Ankara buys Russian S-400 missile defense system.

More on international pressure against Turkey’s behavior was EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini urging Ankara to rethink its plans to start exploratory drilling for oil and gas off Cyprus. Mogherini had already condemned the drilling as illegal by the European Union (EU).

"We express grave concern over Turkey's announced intention to carry out drilling activities within the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus," Mogherini said in a statement.