The statement added that the Turkish forces retaliated and destroyed several Assad regime targets in the area. The soldiers were stationed in Idlib to monitor the cease-fire.
Idlib, near Turkey's southern border, falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in a deal between Turkey and Russia in late 2018.
The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the territory where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
Idlib is home to some 3 million people, many of them displaced from other parts of Syria in earlier bouts of violence. Some 1 million refugees have moved towards the Turkish border in recent months, fleeing attacks by the Assad regime and its allies which caused a desperate humanitarian situation.
Turkey already hosts 3.5 million Syrian refugees, and the current wave of violence in Idlib has raised concerns about a new surge in displaced civilians fleeing toward the Turkish border.
