On June 11, the Turkish military established yet another post in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, where several terrorist groups operate.
Enab Baladi, a pro-opposition outlet, said the new post was established in the vicinity of the town of Monataf in the al-Zawiya Mount in the southern Idlib countryside.
“This military post is considered close to the frontlines with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies,” a commander in the Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation told Enab Baladi, adding that more points will be established in al-Zawiya Mount in the upcoming few days.
Click to see full-size map. Source: (@Suriyakmaps) on Twitter, Via Google Maps – TerraMetrics
With the establishment of the new post, the number of Turkish positions in Greater Idlib has grown to 63, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Last week, four positions were established in southern Idlib.
Turkey is not only establishing more posts in Greater Idlib, but also deploying reinforcements there. On June 11, a large Turkish convoy entered the Syrian region.
The large Turkish military presence in Greater Idlib has forced militants there to adhere to the Turkish-Russian March 5 agreement. However, this presence remains a serious threat to the SAA.
Might as well call Idlib a province of Turkey . So has Assad accepted that Turkey will look after the rebel area and keep them in check and rebuild what he has regained as any attempt to advance further into Idlib risks a major war with Turkey. Without Russian assistance that is a non starter .
Hang on a second, the deal as it was originally proposed stated the Turks would secure an area 6 km north of the M4 and the Russians would do the same 6 km south of the highway, but all we’ve got so far is coordinated patrols on about a third of the highway, and the patrols are only on the highway itself, nothing at all offroad has been secured so far, and on top of that they’ve been bombed on patrol on at least 3 occasions as well. At this rate it’ll be another 5 years before the highway’s secured, and since Erdogan’s going to lose the next election in 3 years time according to all predictions, it’ll mean Erdogan will be out of power in Turkey long before the highway in Syria is finally secured, so what’s the point, what a waste of time and effort.
more SAA targets—the turks spend more money on imperialism as their fragile economy withers