On January 23, the Turkish Armed Forces established two new posts in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.
According to Enab Baladi, both posts were established in the town of Qastoun in the far north of the al-Ghab Plains in the northwestern Hama countryside.
A commander in the National Front for Liberation, one of Turkey’s key proxy groups in Greater Idlib, told the pro-opposition outlet that the first post was set at Qastoun’s school, while the second one was built on the town’s “strategic” hilltop.
Click to see full-size map. Source: (@Suriyakmaps) on Twitter, Via Google Maps – TerraMetrics
In a related development, Turkish troops were deployed along the M4 highway, which links the port city of Lattakia with Aleppo city. Opposition sources said the Turkish military will conduct a patrol on the highway soon.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Turkish military maintains more than 60 posts in Greater Idlib.
Recently, the Turkish military established a new network of posts in the al-Zawiya Mount in southern Idlib. Now, Turkish forces are reinforcing their presence in northwestern Hama.
By deploying more troops in Greater Idlib, Turkey is attempting to deter the Syrian Arab Army. Any new operation by the army in Greater Idlib will likely lead to a confrontation with Turkish troops. The region’s militants are taking advantage of the growing Turkish presence and launch more and more attacks on government forces.
Well, so the Turks are not actually withdrawing out of Syria.
And the treacherous Putin allows this to happen? He sure is watching his ally, Assad back… with a knife
Assad is determined to get this productive area back under his control, he wants and needs this super productive agricultural area to help out the Syrian economy, so it’s going to be a priority for the SAA. I’ve already read reports claiming the SAA has totally disrupted food production in the Turkish held areas, so I suspect the next step is going to be the liberation of these areas. According to the Russian/Turkish MOU the Russians are supposed to control all the areas 30km south of the M4 highway, and the Turks are supposed to control the areas north of the highway, so if the Russians and SAA did mount an assault in this area, it wouldn’t be contradicting the term already put in place according to the Turkish/Russian MOU. But I suspect Erdogan’s not going to comply to the terms of that agreement, otherwise he wouldn’t be building OB posts smack in the middle of the areas that Russia’s supposed to control. March 5 2020 that agreement was made, now it’s January 24 2021, and 10 months later we’re no closer to implementing that agreement than we were back in March 2020.
Sadat, the former president of Egypt, chased away the Soviets from his country and he got back the Sinai peninsula as a prize and he could reopen the Suez canal. Maybe a different Syrian president, Assad is too compromised, should do the same, otherwise his country has no chance to survive