U.S. Researcher: If Ankara chooses confrontation in Idlib, Moscow can’t do much

Washington DC – North-Press Agency

Hadil Oweis 
A researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in the U.S. said that what leads to the current scene in Idlib is the difference between Syria’s closest allies.
The Russian reconciliation center in Syria announced that the Syrian government forces would unilaterally start to implement a ceasefire in the province of Idlib at 6 am on Saturday, in order to achieve stability.
The Russian center called on the armed opposition groups to join the ceasefire in Idlib.
During a meeting in Moscow between the Russian and Turkish presidents, they emphasized on Astana commitments and on the necessity to reach a truce in northwestern Syria region.
Phillip Smith a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told North-Press that even Syria’s closest allies are different from each other regarding the details, and this is one of the reasons that leads to the Idlib scene.
in addition, Turkey has a specific goal which is establishing the safe zone in northern Syria in order to send the Syrian refugees back into the first place, while keeping the Kurdish forces away from its borders.
Yet Turkey is still looking for a party which could give it the best deal in Moscow, Washington and Damascus.
Smith said that the developments in Idlib tell us what is happening between Ankara and Moscow. The Syrian regime has always wanted to launch attacks on Idlib as a response to the jihadists’ attacks launched by the opposition that aims to show the weakness and the embarrassment of the Syrian regime.
 However, the regime was obliged to follow the Russian decisions since it couldn’t enter ldlib alone. The Russian supervision on the operations means that there are changes in the agreements between Russia and Turkey.
According to Smith: “The repeated ceasefire and the announced truce by Russia and the Syrian regime was only to regroup and start with new plans”.
“Russia’s conviction, which it calls for restoring the Syrian territories from the extremists, has not changed as Putin echoed these words a few days ago in front of Erdogan,” he added.
Smith pointed out that “Turkey has significant areas around Idlib, and has some cards to press and push Moscow and Damascus campaigns if it chooses. Then not only the Turkish-backed armed groups will be against the Syrian government forces, but also Turkey as a state”.