Bouthaina Shaaban, a political and media adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, in an interview with Sputnik accused Turkey of failing to fulfill its commitments in Syria's region of Idlib to separate opposition and terrorists and carry out join patrols
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th September, 2020) Bouthaina Shaaban, a political and media adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, in an interview with Sputnik accused Turkey of failing to fulfill its commitments in Syria's region of Idlib to separate opposition and terrorists and carry out join patrols.
Recent talks in mid-September between Turkish and Russian military officials in Ankara on the situation in Idlib have failed to produce and agreement, with Moscow torpedoing Ankara's proposal to transfer the Syrian cities of Tall Rifat and Manbij under Turkish control, according to Turkish sources. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later said that Russian-Turkish agreements on Syria were not being implemented fast enough.
"Unfortunately, Turkey has not honored this commitment aimed to separate between terrorists and opposition in Idlib and neighboring area and neither honored the agreement of the president signed by President Putin about Idlib and about M-4," Shaaban said.
The adviser criticized Turkey for deploying more armaments and troops in the province and coordinating with insurgent forces.
"It is very obvious to the Syrian people that all these terrorists are working in full coordination with Turkish operatives," Shaaban concluded.
In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed on the creation of a de-escalation zone in Idlib, which included an obligation to separate opposition from terrorists. Nevertheless, the deal was not fully implemented and fighting in the area continued. This March, the presidents agreed on a ceasefire in the province as well as setting up of a security corridor along the M-4 motorway, patrolled by Russian and Turkish forces.
