Having lost two more soldiers to Syrian airstrikes on Thursday, Turkey should retaliate by striking regime targets in Damascus.

While an operation against the Syrian capital would attract Bashar Assad's fury, it would send a clear message to the dictator and his Russian allies. And from a Turkish interest point of view, that message has never been more necessary.

After all, these casualties are just the latest of what Turkey has suffered at Assad's hands. And while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is loath to admit it, he must be aware that Vladimir Putin bears responsibility here.

Assad is now an overt Russian puppet, having traded his authority and sovereignty to Moscow in return for its support in crushing the rebellion against his rule. Put simply, the Russians would not allow Assad to kill Turkish soldiers if Putin didn't want exactly that to occur. But Putin does want it to occur because he's furious over Erdogan's rejection of his and Assad's ongoing offensive in Syria's Idlib province. It's worth noting here that this reflects a broader Russian policy of escalation toward Turkey and the United States in Syria.

So what should Erdogan do?

Well, striking the Russians directly is obviously not a preferable option: To do so would risk escalation. But were Turkey to strike one or some of Assad's command and control nodes in Damascus, it could educate the Syrian regime and Putin to its resolve. That is absolutely critical in the face of the threat Turkey's forces now face. It's either that or let the Syrian axis keep killing its forces and degrading Erdogan's domestic credibility. At the same time, NATO should accept Turkey's request to station Patriot anti-air batteries along its border with Syria. That would serve the double effect of securing Turkey's flank against Assad's retaliation and offering an olive branch to persuade Erdogan to abandon his Russian S-400 dalliance and return to the West.

Ultimately, Erdogan needs to remember that Assad is weaker than he looks here. His economy is in shambles, and the Russians lack the military capacity to sustain his regime in the face of a joint Turkey-rebellion counteroffensive. Dangling that threat on the backdrop of a few carefully dropped bombs, Turkey can restore deterrence against the mass murderer.