Turkey brokers negotiations between HTS, SNA north of Syria’s Aleppo

IDLIB, Syria (North Press) –  On Friday, Turkish-brokered negotiations were held between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) and Third Legion affiliated with Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) in Bab al-Hawa border crossing north of Aleppo.

Jesser website cited sources as saying that the meeting was held with the attendance of a representative of the Turkish government in addition to the leader of the Levant Front Abu Ahmad Nour as a representative of the SNA and Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of the HTS.

The website added that the representative of the SNA refused to hand over the latter held areas to the HTS or joining the latter ranks under command of al-Jolani.

It noted that the Turkish party supported that HTS takes control over all the SNA-held areas.

Well informed sources suggested that the SNA factions will start handing other areas over to the HTS in the few coming days.

Earlier on Friday, military reinforcements to Turkish-backed Third Legion arrived to Kafr Janneh in the countryside of the city of Afrin north of Aleppo, amidst ongoing clashes with HTS in the region.

Afrin, a Kurdish city in the north of Aleppo, has been under the occupation of Turkey since March 2018 following a military operation called “Olive Branch” which resulted in the displacement of about 300.000 people of the original inhabitants of the city and its countryside.

The areas held by the SNA factions, for three days, have been witnessing unrest due to clashes with Hamza Division on the back of killing an activist and his wife at the hand of the division’s militants.