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Turkey Forces Its Proxies To Accept Humiliating Agreement With Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham

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Turkey Forces Its Proxies To Accept Humiliating Agreement With Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham

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After ten days of clashes, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, and the Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation (NFL) reached a ceasefire that ended to the battle between them.

Under the agreement, which was signed by both groups at the early hours of January 10, all the areas controlled by the NFL will be ruled by HTS’ Salvation Government. This was seen by many local observers as a major victory for the radical group.

The agreement was likely reached after Turkish mediation. While Ankara refused to provide any support for its proxies during their battle against an internationally recognized terrorist group, it apparently had no shame in publicly supporting the agreement.

“Ankara has taken the necessary steps to stop these [HTS] attacks,” Anadolu Agency quoted Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, as saying.

A day earlier, HTS massed its forces in the southern Idlib countryside and began its preparations to launch an attack on the NFL-held towns of Maarrat al-Nu’man and Ariha. The imminent attack led to a state of panic among Turkish-backed militants.

Turkey’s role in the ongoing infighting in Idlib was highlighted by Rami Abd al-Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). He accused the country of supporting HTS attacks against its own proxies. The humiliating agreement today supports al-Rahman’s claims.

Just like the previous ones, the new ceasefire agreement will not likely hold for long as HTS is constantly planning and conducting actions to expand its influence in the opposition-held part of northern Syria.

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Sakaramanga

Beware of Muslim Brotherhood.

You can call me Al

?.

Sakaramanga

Muslim Brothers (by way of their terorist followers) may try to take over some parts of northern Syria and other countries. I believe they are closely related to HTS etc. Islamists’ takeover of the whole region (except Israel ofc) is their plan.

You can call me Al

Yes sorry, I had it the wrong way around regards Turkey. My mistake.

Lupus

ok now the Turks can leave and SAA and friends can take over.

Promitheas Apollonious

you are not reading correctly what is happening. Maybe because you believe the BS about HTS and NFL is anything but turkish puppets called with different names. Kind of same shit different name.

Zo Fu

I must admit you got the point

You can call me Al

So will the Turks turn on HTS ?

ColinNZ

I think they will step aside (willingly or otherwise) to allow SAA & Russia to destroy HTS. Clever move to remove the Syrian “rebels” from Idleb to leave just HTS … the US will not risk WW3 to protect an internationally-recognised terrorist organisation.

You can call me Al

I do as well. My views on the rest exactly.

Promitheas Apollonious

the turks will suck what ever dick it suit them when it suit them and I mean russian or US according to where the wind blows. What I think I said it not now but many months ago and often after that so you should know by now what I think.

Master Oroko

More good news.

Zo Fu

Why humiliating agreement? Turkey wants the whole de-escalation zone to be ethnically cleaned from Christianity, something that ‘moderates’ can’t do for Turkey but HTS can. HTS is a perfect tool for spreading Turkish influence in northern Syria. Everybody not utterly stupid can see it. Maybe in 2-3 years Putin eventually start doing something to protect civilians and crush HTS but it will be too late. Civilians will be gone or murdered. The same thing happened in Raqqa under US-Kurdish so called ‘liberation’ from ISIS. Primary targets were civilians as well.

Ricky Miller

Firstly, President Putin is responsible for Russia and Russians, not the safety of stupid civilians inside Idlib who invited in disorder and refused to fight foreign fighters who came to invade their communities. Russia is assisting the Syria government in reclaiming territory and reasserting authority, and we have seen the results, but Russia is unprepared to get into an open conflict with Turkey regarding Idlib. Just look at the resupply geography. Now that would be utter stupidity, militarily. And Russia has growing technology and economic ties to Turkey which aids Russia in her global geopolitical standoff with the United States. So Turkish interests in Idlib have to be taken into account by the Russians.

This conflict was provoked by an incident between Jihadi street gangs. It has no presenting details of Turkish plotting. HTS, composed of deeper zealots, has proven more motivated in the fight. But HTS is a great danger to everyone, including Turkey. They are a snake that can turn on anyone at any time and in the long run it’s a guarantee. They will threaten Turkey. They will attack Aleppo. And when Turkey tires of them and Russia and Syria agree that enough is enough than HTS will get hammered. It’s inevitable. Turkey fears Kurdish militancy way more than any utility they get from HTS. The key to fighting the Kurds is use of air support to cover an advance. Use of Syria’s airspace will require Russian consent and Syria’s begrudgingly given go along. A complicated dance of negotiations are probably already underway and the value and future of HTS is no doubt part of what Turkey will have to serve up. Things are way more complicated than your simple and hysterically rendered analysis.

jako

He is neo-NAZI hating bigot who hates Putin, Russians, Muslims and Jews Any excuse to attack Russians is good for him.

He is filthy liar because he couldn’t care less for Muslim civilians. Also why would Christians specially now be in danger after 7 years in war and occupation of Idlib?! There are no Christians in Idlib! They should be all dead or escaped long time ago. Terrorist in Idlib had plenty opportunities to kill all non Sunni Muslims whenever they wanted in past 7 years

Ivanus59

Turkey is simply relocating their minions to another front where they think they will be more useful…

Xoli Xoli

The truth about who rename Alqaida to HTS and sponsors are Expose by Mighty God Jesus.Watch out for two tongues and big knife.

Albert Pike

Doenmeh in action, forsure will they support USraHells Stormtroppers of the Doenmeh House Saud…

abuqahwa

So, having defeated some smaller jihadi groups the enemy is now incorporating the rest into a new structure rebadged as the “Salvation Government ” This fools no-one – the enemy remains Turkey and its mercenary tools whether HTS or so-called Syrian National Army . Still I didn’t expect Faylaq ash-Sham to defect also, but the ridiculous named National Liberation Front NLF (Jabhat lilTahreer al Watani) has collapsed and signed a surrender accord with HTS (see fotocopy) with the Ahrar ash-Sham and Suqour ash-Sham factions ceasefiring, removing all NLF CPs and barricades, exchange PWs, and agree to serve under a new even more ridiculous so-called Salvation Government (Hukum al KhalaS) !! So now remaining jihadist gangs are just Jaysh al-Izza (north Hama district) and Turkestani Islamic Party (Uighars) around Jisr Shighour area , and the laughable named Wa Harid al-Mum’ineem which roughly translates as : And Incite the Believers or And Encourage the Faithful (can you believe the comical titles these jihadi thug gangs give themselves ? ). Notice that HTS advanced unopposed and rapidly thru all 12 of the Turkish checkpoints and OPs set up, supposedly to stop or prevent armed elements in the so-called deconfliction zones per Sochi protocols. So obviously the entire HTS operation was with Turkish agreement.

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a3b40bcc9952904087bf956e060725722e760f143adf2f8b5f61b1c2bb8d6411.jpg

FB

Al Nusra [now called HTS] was always the strongest force, by far, among the so-called ‘opposition’…they were and continue to be supported by Turkey…perhaps not publicly, but they are able to move freely across the Turkish border and get whatever arms and support they need…what is less obvious is that Nusra also continues to enjoy the support of the west…this includes the UK and France as well as the CIA an Pentagon [on the quiet]…

Considering these known facts…it is easy to connect the dots that Turkey and the west can agree on this one point…the need to support Nusra…they may disagree on the Kurds an other issues, but on the support for Nusra there is no disagreement…that is why last fall, when the Russians and SAA were ready to invade Idlib, the west freaked out and issued an ultimatum to Russia to leave Idlib alone…Russia went along with this because it is the wisest course of action to simply postpone this operation until the calculus has changed…that’s why we had Russia and Turkey agree on this fake ‘demilitarized’ zone, which has turned out to be a joke…

So now the Turks have been using this time-out to consolidate the strength of Nusra for the inevitable coming SAA offensive on Idlib, probably in the spring…the Turks are overplaying their hand and have to realize that they cannot continue on this course…they have been a major player in the regime change project from the beginning, and when it became clear that the regime change was over…Erdog jumped on the Astana bandwagon…but he has been duplicitous and proved that he is not a reliable partner…the Russians know this and it doesn’t change anything…the Idlib liberation will take place and the rats will be wiped out…Turkey cannot change that…

abuqahwa

Agreed, FRUKUS remains determined to destroy Syria – hope your forecast of Idlib liberation comes true – SAA has now deployed forces in sufficent strength and capability to storm thru HTS/NFL positions in 72 hours.

You can call me Al

I still believe Turkey will rescind on their relationship with HTS and join the fight from the North.

dez nuts

Or maybe its time let HTS take over so that Russia and SAA can begin their extermination. If HTS didnt win so fast then probably SAA offensive would have been prolonged

Willing Conscience (The Truths

Your facts concerning the ending of the first idlib campaign are totally wrong I’m afraid, you should recheck your assertions. It was Erdogan who ended the SAA/Russian advance during that campaign, he alone ended the very successful advances the SAA and Russia were making. 2 weeks before the first Astana agreement was implemented Erdogan sent a sneaky convoy of trucks down to northern Hama and set up an Illegal OB post, smack in between the advancing SAA and the very badly losing rebels, THAT WAS WHAT STOPPED THE SAA ADVANCE. The other side did try to force the SAA and Russia not to begin the first campaign in Idlib , but Putin and Assad told them all to go Fu-k themseves in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, you must have missed the harsh words Assad and Putin both had for the west when they told them to stop, but it was all in the news and well covered, google search time. At that time Erdogan and Putin were cosying up after the coup and Putin believed he could swing Erdogan away from the US coalition and bring him into his own sphere of influence, Erdogan used Putin’s desire to form a new relationship with Erdogan to manipulate him into agreeing to things in the Astana agreement Putin wouldn’t have agreed to before the coup attempt. There were only supposed to be 8 OB posts set up in specific locations in that first agreement and Erdogan set up 12, and the one in northern Hama and the one next to it were the reason the SAA advance was halted. I’m sorry to point out you’re incorrect, but a simple google search or 2 will show you you’ve made a mistake with your assertion. Assad and Putin both told the US to go F–k themsemselves and started attacking the rebels, that’s what actually happened back then, that was the exact opposite of what you asserted happened. Just google with something like, ‘Assad and Putin ignore coalition demands to end Idlib campaign’ with the appropriate dates, and I think you’ll, find out what really happened. But please don’t be offended by my comment, I myself make more than my fair share of mistakes so don’t think for a second I’m having a go at you. a google search would clarify what happened very easily, or if you have the SyrialiveUAmaps time feature [if you subscribe] you could go back to just before the campaign and scroll forward, to see what happened and how it happened. cheers.

FB

I have no idea what you’re talking about, because your comment is a hmishmash of all kinds of different events and timelines…In case you did not understand what I actually said…the Putin-Erogan agreement on the Idlib demilitarized zone was reached on Sept 17, 2018…the same day that Russian Il20 spy plane was shot down during an Israeli air raid on Latakia…

That agreement meant that the coming offensive to liberate Idlib was called off…Erogan got what he wanted…a few weeks earlier during a summit in Tehran, he had called for a ‘ceasefire’ in Idlib, but Putin said no…so in those weeks after the summit the SAA continued to deploy elite forces around Idlib for the coming offensive…the outcry and pressure from the west intensified to an absurd level…Trump and other Nato leaders made direct threats at Russia if the Idlib liberation proceeded…so Putin basically blinked…it was actually the right call because the time is on the side of Russia and Assad an Iran…Idlib isn’t going anywhere…but in the meantime, a few short months after that global showdown over Idlib, the Americans are packing and leaving…so in hindsight it was a good decision…

However…the very strong reaction of Nato and the west in September showed everybody just what was going on…clearly the west would not have taken things to the brink of world war with Russia over small potatoes…what was the big deal about Idlib that made the west pull out all the stops and threaten a war against Russia…?

Those are the facts…maybe you missed all that…so that helps to explain what we are seeing now…Nusra is getting stronger and stronger, and Turkey is letting them…now that is a fact also…the reason for this is subject to interpretation, but to me it looks like the west an Turkey are still very much committed to keeping Idlib in the hands of the so-called ‘opposition’…Turkey is the cat’s paw of the west in this Idlib issue…if it wasn’t for Turkey Russia would give the go ahead to liberate Idlib…but Turkey is resisting strongly…that’s the situation and there is nothing ‘incorrect’ about what I have said here or earlier…even more puzzling is that it is impossible to understand what you are trying to say…

Willing Conscience (The Truths

I apologize, I’m guilty of not paying enough attention to your comment, I thought you were referring to the first SAA campaign in Idlib/Hama, that started in oct 2017 and ended earlier last year in about Feb or March, with Erdogan erecting the OB posts and ending the very successful SAA campaign there. I should have realized you meant this year when you said this “that is why last fall”, so sorry. Aussies don’t use the term fall we just call it Autumn. I think the SAA offensive will begin in 3 or 4 days, not in march, and the Turks will also kill as many HTS as the SAA do. HTS has not become stronger, that’s just an illusion, they’ve become even less of a force than they were and are losing more as we speak, HTS is made up of several larger groups that sometimes have a multitude of smaller splinter groups, and a lot of them are switching to Erdogan’ side now, and only a few are remaining with HTS and keeping their weapons. I think by the end of February all the south of Idlib will be back in the hands of the SAA, and all of Erdogan’s forces will just consolidate in the north with the possible exception of the Jisr ash Shugur area, this might be GIVEN to the Turks as a present from Putin, after the SAA kick HTS out, we’ll see in a few days. Sorry again for misinterpreting your comment and assuming you meant the very first campaign back in 2017.

TS

Ah, then it is likely that HTS will ‘meet the hand of its maker. The one thing that is obvious is that at the Astana meeting, Turkey was given the right to ‘control’ the situation and Erdogan want to prove his army. The money for this is already alloted, but the situation is not to the point where drastic action is required. The Astana agreements are for negotiated settlements and what seems to be happening is that all the ‘eggs’ are getting placed in one ‘basket’ and (as this article indicates) that is happening. HTS is on a roll probably captagon fueled and in the end they will all have to go to Alla in a horrible way. Erdogan has no need for this orginization and most certianly does not want them in his country in any form.

Gregory Casey

You have described, in essence, what is left to achieve in the Syrian War …….. the obliteration of the Armed Forces that were the original cause of the War, way back in 2011 when al-Nusra were the prime tip of the Wahhabi-Qatari-Turk-FUKUS Spear. Nothing has changed with these psychopaths except for the fact they have been fought and pressured back into this small part of Syria where they maintain a Caliphate of their own over the native population of approximately 1.5 Million -people. We keep being told there are 3 Million people in Idlib who “cannot be attacked by Assad” : if there are 3 Million people, 1.5 Million are Militants intent on Jihad together with their wives, concubines and children who are now being educated to follow in Daddy’s footsteps and become a Terrorist for Allah ………. paid by Riyadh and supported from Ankara, Jerusalem, London, Paris & Washington. The sooner these Forces for Jihad are wiped out and their cancer removed from Syria, the better for all humanity and, more to the point, the better for Syrians!

Abdul Jabbar

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/14b6f78472882d6514285b153a7d6f870981bd176b7ec0882100074e4ac4edc7.jpg

jako

Only in your dreams you terrorist monkey. Syria is one united country If you want Caliphate than go to Israel to your masters or maybe Erdogan gives you chunk of land like ZOO for your bunch

Gregory Casey

I see you’ve been playing with the crayons again! Child ……. Go put away your toys and pray for your coming (and very uncomfortable) meeting with Allah who will despatch you to Hell in the blink of an eye and there you can enjoy your eternal life burning constantly with all the other misguided psychopaths.

Willing Conscience (The Truths

Jan 11, 4 more days to get out, they better hurry now, you’re either on the bus or under the bus now according to Erdogan’s new decree. Those supermen that fight for HTS are about to lose their special abilities in 4 days time, that’s when they go back to just being human like the rest of us, then it’s ‘Kapow’, the Turks and their proxies, the SAA, the Russians, maybe even a few Kurds, will all flood in like a bursting dam breaking it’s barrier, and they’ll all settle in the low spots they want to, the Turks water will flow north and settle, and the SAA floodwater will fill in all the other areas, close to perfection for a while at least. After the first Astana agreement was implemented I honestly believed Erdogan had taken advantage of Putin, but I haven’t since then, now I think it’s Putin manipulating Erdogan, but letting Erdogan think it’s the other way around. All he had to do was keep Erdogan busy for a while and then wait until he ran out of cash, that’s all it took for Putin to convince him to leave, it all boiled down to, can you really afford it on your budget. There are greener pastures in Al Hasakah anyway, let’s keep an eye on the northern border of Syria too, not just the west bank of the Euphrates.

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