Attempts to establish a separate Turkish-controlled territory inside Syria – Strategic analyst
Northern Syria – North-Press Agency
A Syrian strategic researcher has said that “Erdogan must be expelled from Syria by force to end his Ottoman dreams”, pointing out that “the territorial unity of Syria is inevitable and an untouchable red line”.
The strategic researcher Alaa al-Asfari, agreed with a statement by the Syrian presidential advisor Buthaina Shaaban regarding the “temporary” truce in Idlib.
Al-Asfari explained that “these armed opposition groups cannot be moderate, because they hold religious extremist ideologies, beginning with al-Nusra Front to the so-called moderate movements such as Jaish al-Izzah and Ahrar al-Sham”.
Furthermore, al-Asfari mentioned what he described as “Erdogan’s great ambitions in Aleppo, Idlib and east of the Euphrates,”, and stressed that Turkey wants a buffer zone in Idlib, extending to a depth of 30km, considering it as an area for “the resettlement of international and Syrian terrorists”.
He also pointed to Turkish attempts to establish “a separate territory under the auspices of the Turkish governors, which was stated by Erdogan publicly with a group of leaders in the Justice and development Party (AKP)”.
As for the Turkish president’s attempt of raising the issue of Aleppo again, al-Asfari stressed that Turkey “has kept an eye on Aleppo since the beginning of the war in Syria”, while explained that Turkey wants to “deduct Aleppo and Idlib, and establish a large buffer zone”.
Moreover, the strategic researcher Alaa al-Asfari considered that this Turkish demand “is unacceptable, Idlib along with its northern countryside must be cleared from terrorists and the Turks”.
He also believes that the rest of Syrians can engage in the “political settlement with the Syrian Republic, provided that the Syrians will return to their sovereignty”.
“Erdogan is playing over the question of Turkish national security, trying to present the Kurds as a constant threat to Turkey, while strengthening the religious and extremist aspect of his loyalists”, al- Asfari added.
The media and political advisor of the Syrian presidency Buthaina Shaaban had recently stressed that the ceasefire in Idlib is not permanent, in coincidence with talks about the dissolution of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its affiliate, the Salvation Government in opposition-held areas, under Turkish pressure.
Shaaban stressed that any ceasefire decision is in the service of the Syrian government control over all Syrian territories, noting that “what the terrorists have done in the countryside of Idlib was planned by other countries”.
Shaaban also claimed that the agreement of the current truce was under Russian-Syrian decision and had nothing to do with any other understandings.
Shaaban said that the outputs of the upcoming events will reveal the lies of the Turkish President Erdogan, noting that he has “greed in Iraq and Syria and relations with terrorist groups on the ground”.
The Syrian presidential advisor Buthaina Shaaban stressed that the Turkish forces will leave the Syrian territories “forcibly”, following the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s comments regarding Turkey’s intention to withdraw its forces and reach a political solution in Syria.