Turkish forces are seen near Mount Barsaya, northeast of Afrin, Syria January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Russia and Turkey agreed to conduct joint patrols around the northern Syrian governorate of Idlib during the 12th round of the Astana Process, Ayman al-Asami, a spokesman for the Syrian opposition delegation to the talks told Enab Baladi on April 28.
“A decision taken in the talks to stop the shelling of Idlib. This will be preceded by the conduct of joint Russian-Turkish patrols on the frontlines in early May,” al-Asami said.
The opposition spokesman added that the situation in Idlib was extensively discussed during the recent round of the Astana Process, which was held on April 25 and 26. The talks were attended by e United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen.
Idlib is currently controlled by several terrorist group led by the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). In the last few days, the terrorists launched two attacks on the Russia Hmeimim airbase on the Syrian coast, provoking a new round of escalation.
The reports of Russian-Turkish patrols around Idlib are not new. Last month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Vershinin, announced that joint patrols will be conducted soon within the devitalized zone around the governorate. However, this is yet to happen.
In the final statement of Astana’s 12th round, Russia, Turkey and Iran announced that they had agreed to new measures to implement the demilitarized zone agreement on Idlib. The joint patrols were likely one one of these measures.
Despite the al-Asami confirmation, there is a good chance that the terrorist groups in Idlib wouldn’t allow such joint patrols. Hardcore terrorists may even attempt to target the patrols in order to further escalate the situation around Idlib.
Turkey is very Brave to stand Internationally and even negotiate with Sheik Joulani.
Everybody can do that in that level. Its a meeting. Coffee good. Erdogan: I bring locums too and You will be so sweet :)
My enemies is my friend best friends.My best friend is my friends terrorists enemy.
This game is called global domination and it makes for strange bedfellows. Remember Ataturk convinced the Turks to give up the religious mumbo jumbo, lets hope that an affluent Turkey will return to the logical path. Religion only flourishes among the poor.
Putin stabbing Assad in the back.
1) If Russians wasnt there Assads hardly were Emirs of Latakia and 2) Russia has only promised to keep Assads in the seat and certainly not to take all Syria back.
Telling Russians backstabbing Assads paying billions of dollars in it, shows many certainly not even deserve to be helped. Who ´keep You alive. Who keep You.
Its very easy to understand. Assads never could have reached even Al Bab not being helped by YPG+J as well as Turks. NEVER. SAA never had even a foot in it.
Assads hard ly had taken all the way down to Tabqa today without SDFs and USA(coalision). Raqqa still had been the Capitil of ISIS and You never would have arrived to DEZ. As today You probatly hardly could have secured Palmyra and it oil and gas, and Youhad no fields west of Tabqa for repoair as well.
And Assads also sold Afrin for nothing. Assads would not give Afrin back for nothing even they had kept FSA as well as Turks in dekay and killed many from FSA as well as ISIS there.
So after some figthing they evacuated all YPG+J supporters there.
If anything, I see Assads as usual are stabbing SDFs by mainly kurds all the way to today. Russians do see how You are and behave.
By that Russians probatly think a smaller Syria is much easier to help and control. And they do have much better bases as they wished and at least some hopes for getting paid some warfare and wheet by oil.
Assads are not Syria. Its aprivate very corrupt regime stealing oil and needed devellopment for own purpose only by the Baath party. Thats how it is.
You seem to think this is a cowboy movie, and there are good guys and bad guys. There are no good guys, just some who are not pitch black. Russia is not in Syria to save Syria, Russia is in Syria to protect its oil/gas industry. The same applies to Iran, and the FUKUS countries.
All wars are about money.
“Rusia is not in Syria to save Syria…..” That became obvious even to me when they started “joint patrols” with Turkey. What are they patrolling anyway – I read more terrorists are coming in from Turkey even now.
Are you in Oz Astrid? if you are you will remember the East Timor intervention? At the time I thought I had misjudged John Howard, and he was rescuing the Timorese from Indonesia. It was only later I realized that the motive was to steal the oil/gas. We couldn’t push Indonesia around, but we could push East Timor around.
If you look at the economic implications of wars, you will find all wars are about money, and that money is in the form of oil for most of the wars of the 20th century, even WWI.
Why should Russia allow Turkey to do patrol in sovereign Syrian soil.
Because they operate with facts.
It started with Assads for many, many years was no Mr Nice Guy at all.
Golan: 1967 attack against Israel and learned nothing and did the same again in 1973. We also can see a Kurdish uprise for good reasons as well as Assads tryed to take over most part of Lebanon.
To me Syria very much is the the wrong people die as well as are refugees, displaced and handicapped and traumatized for … what.
You dont know what, because You deny facts and reasons even they are well descriebed for decades and decades.
Why would Russia care?
Who’s Russia?
Here the grass don’t grow, with 3 comments saying the same: ‘this user is blocked’.
Turkey is just wasting time here while they build that wall over Syrian land. President Assad may have to act alone here and Russia doesnt seem to care about Idlib.
That never would have happend if Assads had given YPG+J in Afrin something for real in stead of nothing. The same goes for the SDF area.
They are not spendable for nothing or Damaskus as minus only.
Turkey is much more important to Russia than Syria. The only reason Russian Iranian American French Israeli British and now Turkish troops are operating in Syria is Syrian incompetence. If Assad had been a bit more like his father and your namesake there would have been no war.
Assad will not act alone, he’s a peacemaker, not a warlord.
Please war game out how his father would have done things differently so that the war would have been avoided.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Hama_massacre
Youre right, Assad is not like his father or based Saddam. He never wanted to lead and it was forced on him after his brother died. He wanted to live as a doctor in a peaceful setting. However, despite his peacemaking characteristics, the baathist party leads and controls the situation. They wont let him or anyone else lose a third of Syria, especially with him having the backing of the people.
Russia and Turkey agreed to joint patrols on Syrian sovereign territory, that says it all, poor Assad.
Russia will stop any possible SAA offensive on Idlib since Turkey is much more important for Russia than Syria in this area. Russia believes that it will be able to separate Turkey from NATO and join it to Russia influence….I am not sure Russia will be able to do this, but what it is a fact is that Russia is held back in Syria due to economical and commercial Russia-Turkey interests, and maybe this was planned by Israel-USA-NATO themselves.