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The Turkish intelligence has order the armed groups in the northern Syrian governorate of Idlib to provide it with the complete inventory of their weapons and the full personal information of their fighters, the Syrian news outlet Enab Baladi reported on October 5.
A source familiar with the situation told the pro-opposition news outlet that the Turkish request was sent to all armed groups in Idlib, including the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). According to the source, Turkey asked for similar information before forming the Euphrates Shield (ES) force.
The Turkish request is clearly linked to the Russian-Turkish deconfliction agreement on Idlib, which was reached last month. Under the agreement, a demilitarized zone should be established around Idlib by October 15.
While the Turkish-backed FSA had welcomed the deconfliction agreement, HTS is yet to announce its official stand on it. If the radical group rejected Turkey’s request, the agreement will likely collapse and a military solution will become possible again.
And the very best of luck with that.