Differences between Turkey and Russia on Idlib: failure of Ankara meetings

In recent days, deep differences have emerged between the Russian and Turkish sides regarding the fate of Idlib, and the agreement concluded between them last March, which decided to open the Aleppo-Latakia International Highway (M4). On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Turkish capital Ankara witnessed meetings between two teams of Russian and Turkish military personnel in both Libya and Syria. However, the Idlib dossier was the largest present at the negotiating table between the two parties, which apparently did not lead to a consensus that would consolidate the previous agreement.

It appears that the lack of agreement between the two parties has been directly reflected in the field, as the two parties did not operate the joint patrol that was scheduled to run two days ago on the M4 road, and the absence of Russian forces from the joint patrol, leading the Turkish army to execute the patrol alone. Yesterday, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Turkey is delaying the implementation of its obligations under the agreement to cease hostilities in the Idlib governorate. “Ankara’s implementation of its obligations stipulated in the Russian-Turkish memorandum concluded on March 5 this year is being postponed,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a press conference in Moscow.
On the other hand, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşolu had hinted that the political process in Idlib could end if an agreement was not reached with Russia. Turkey’s Foreign Minister commented, in an interview with the Turkish channel, CNN, on the first night of yesterday, on the developments of the Syrian dossier, saying: “With regard to Syria, we must first preserve the ceasefire in the region. Idlib “, indicating that the meetings with the Russian side were not very” fruitful “. He added that “the ceasefire in Syria should continue and focus a little more on political negotiations,” emphasizing the need for relative calm in the province, because “if the fighting continues, the political process may be over.” In turn, the Russian agency, “Sputnik”, quoted an unidentified source, that the Russian delegation presented a proposal to reduce the number of Turkish observation points in Idlib, but that “no agreement was reached on the matter” . The source said that “it was decided to reduce the number of Turkish forces present in Idlib and withdraw heavy weapons from the area,” after the Turkish side refused to remove the Turkish observation points and insisted on keeping them.

The Russian delegation presented a proposal to reduce the number of Turkish observation points

For his part, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham denied any relationship with the groups targeting joint Russian-Turkish patrols in Idlib. A group calling itself the “Khattab al-Shishani Brigades” targeted the joint patrols, while another group called the “Ansar Abi Bakr al-Siddiq Brigade” targeted the Turks only in all their attacks. Taqi al-Din Omar, the media communication official in Tahrir al-Sham, told the opposition website Enab Baladi through an electronic correspondence, that “Tahrir al-Sham is not aware of the Khattab al-Shishani brigades. and it has no connection with the brigades. ” Taqi al-Din confirmed that “Tahrir al-Sham did not find out about the brigades except from the media,” adding: “We doubt those bodies that appeared suddenly and under mysterious circumstances.”
The “Khattab al-Shishani Brigades” had claimed responsibility for attacking joint patrols on the Aleppo-Lattakia international highway three times. The first was on July 14, with a car bomb, and it was the first appearance of the “Falange”. On August 17, it claimed that a vehicle within the convoy was hit with a missile, and that it was the first patrol to travel in the opposite direction to the direction of the patrols (from the village of Ain Hor in the southwestern countryside of Idlib to the village of Al-Tarnbah in the eastern countryside of Idlib). The last adoption of the “Brigades” was eight days later, on August 25, after targeting a joint patrol on the (M4). As for the “Ansar Abi Bakr Al-Siddiq Brigade”, it attacked the Turks for the first time on August 27, and the “Company” claimed, on September 6, the shooting attack on Turkish soldiers in the city of Mu `tarm near Jericho, south of Idlib, which caused the killing of one soldier and wounding another. On the 14th of this month, he claimed that a car belonging to the Turkish “Red Crescent” had been attacked in the Aleppo countryside, killing one of its members and wounding another.

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