Turkey’s president said that his country won’t allow Syrian forces to gain additional territory in a northern Syrian province.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments came as Syrian forces reached the western gate of the rebel stronghold of Saraqeb in Idlib province in the north, while the U.N. announced that more than half a million people have fled their homes since December 1, because of the offensive.

“At the moment, Syria is trying to gain territory by forcing the innocent and poor people toward our border. We won"t give Syria the opportunity to gain territory”, - said Erdogan.

Eight Turkish citizens were killed in an exchange of shelling with Syrian government forces in Idlib on Monday.