File photo: Ahmad Tu’mah
Turkish military presence in the Syrian province of Idlib ensures security in the region, the former prime minister of the Syrian Interim Government said during a Syria meeting in Sochi, Russia, on Tuesday.
The Syrian opposition wants to transform Idlib from a deescalation zone into a zone of a permanent cease-fire, Ahmad Tu’mah, who led the opposition groups at the 10th round of Astana format meeting of the guarantor countries, said at a news conference.
A fourth convoy carrying opposition fighters and civilians from Syria’s southwestern Daraa province arrived in opposition-held parts of Idlib in the country’s north on Saturday.The 10-bus convoy is reportedly carrying some 450 passengers, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent based in the region.With the new arrivals, at least 2,850 people have been evacuated from Daraa to Idlib and Aleppo’s western countryside in recent days.Last month, the Syrian regime -- with Russian air support -- launched a major military operation in Daraa, allowing it and its allies to establish control over most of Syria’s border with Jordan.The fighting led to a major displacement crisis, with an estimated 350,000 civilians fleeing Daraa towards areas near the border.Terrorist PKK/YPG sell US weapons at blackmarket Assad regime deploys troops, tanks to wage war against Syria’s IdlibFollowing peace talks last year in Kazakh capital Astana, Daraa was designated a “de-escalation zone” in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
Fourth convoy of evacuees from Daraa arrives in Idlib
The Assad regime has speeded up its military deployments to Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, the largest remaining Syrian opposition-held enclave, dispatching dozens of troops, tanks, armored vehicles, missile-launching platforms and Iran-backed Shia militias along the Turkmen Mountain.The regime has already started to bomb positions belonging to the Syrian opposition along the Jisr ash-Shugur- Turkmen Mountain line, where 3 million people currently reside, according to reports. Qaramanli, Qatana, Obin are reportedly amongst the towns that were harassed by Iran-backed Shia militias.The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) in response have started to reinforce its observation points by building concrete walls in the Turkmen Mountain area in Latakia and has been dispatching more than 300 concrete walls from Reyhanlı located at the Turkish border.Under the Astana agreement, Turkish forces are present at 12 points from Idlib's north to south.Idlib, located in northwestern Syria on the Turkish border, has faced intense attacks by the Bashar al-Assad regime after a vicious civil war broke out in 2011.Since March 2015, Idlib is no longer under the control of the Assad regime and has been overrun by opposition groups.The Astana peace talks were launched on Jan. 23-24, 2017, with the aim of putting an end to violence and improving the humanitarian situation in war-torn Syria.PKK awaits for an attackA so-called senior leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Aldar Khalil said that if the war starts in Idlib, they would collaborate with the Damascus regime to attack Turkish forces.Khalil stated that the PKK terror organization’s primary aim is to attack Afrin after Idlib, and for this purpose they will deliver thousands of terrorists to Syria’s Idlib province from the Aleppo-Hama route in cooperation with the Assad regime.On Jan. 20 Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to remove YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin. On March 18, Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army members liberated its city center, on the 58th day of the operation.The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and its Syrian offshoot the People's Protection Units (YPG) terrorist group had reached an agreement on delivering the control of Syria’s two major dams, Tabqa and Tishrin, to the Assad regime in exchange for a supply of electricity and water needs in areas occupied by the terror group in early July.
Assad regime deploys troops, tanks to wage war against Syria’s Idlib
”The presence of Turkish allies at the control points on the regional borders ensures security," he said following the meeting.
Meanwhile, Russian Presidential Envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, ruled out the possibility of any military operation in Idlib.
“There cannot be any talks of an all-out offensive," he said, speaking at a separate news conference in Sochi.
Last week, the regime began a military buildup in southwestern Idlib in a bid to attack Syria’s northwestern Turkmen Mountain region, which is located within the de-escalation zones.
Idlib was a top issue during the Astana meeting, as the Turkish delegation stressed the importance of maintaining the cease-fire regime in the region.