“We have already begun our actions there,” he added.
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“The result of this conversation will determine our behavior. We will not move away from positions in Syria, while there continues to be violence from the regime (Bashar al-Assad. – Ed.),” Erdogan said.
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In addition, he said that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that Putin hold a four-way Syria summit in Istanbul on March 5.
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In May 2017, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish four de-escalation zones in Syria. Three of them in 2018 came under the control of Damascus. The fourth, located in the province of Idlib and parts of the neighboring provinces of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo, has not yet been occupied by government troops. Most of it was captured by terrorists from the Jebhat al-Nusra *.
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In September 2018, Russia and Turkey signed an agreement on the creation of a demilitarized zone in Idlib, where there are more than a dozen different units. The largest of them are the union of the pro-Turkish groups “National Front of Liberation” and “Jebhat al-Nusra” *, in total about 30 thousand militants.
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At the end of January 2020, the Syrian army launched an offensive in Idlib and Aleppo in connection with daily terrorist attacks on residential areas, which killed dozens of civilians. In a month, Assad’s troops managed to liberate more than 600 square kilometers, the large city of Maaret Nuuman and the M5 Damascus – Aleppo highway.
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Amid escalation in Idlib, Ankara and some of its partners accuse Damascus and Moscow of striking humanitarian targets and the Turkish military.
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Russia and Syria have repeatedly stated that the cause of instability in the region is the actions of terrorists. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Turkey has not fulfilled several key obligations on Idlib, in particular, it has not dissociated the armed opposition, which is ready for dialogue with the government, from terrorists.
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Russian Su-24 attacked them, which allowed the Syrians to successfully repel all attacks. CPVS called on Ankara to stop supporting terrorists. The Turkish Ministry of Defense reported that during the air attack in Idlib, two Turkish soldiers were killed and five more were injured.
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Erdogan said earlier that Turkey did not get a satisfactory result in negotiations with Russia on Idlib and was ready for the start of a military operation in this region. The Kremlin called it the worst-case scenario.
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* Terrorist groups banned in Russia.
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