The ongoing clashes in the northern Syrian province of Idlib have proven the current format of cooperation between Russia and Turkey and, occasionally, the United States in supervising the ceasefire inefficient, including due to Ankara's failed promises regarding its military presence in the country, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik
DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th October, 2020) The ongoing clashes in the northern Syrian province of Idlib have proven the current format of cooperation between Russia and Turkey and, occasionally, the United States in supervising the ceasefire inefficient, including due to Ankara's failed promises regarding its military presence in the country, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik.
The situation in Syria's northern Idlib province is currently the direst due to it being one of the last strongholds of terrorists and insurgent militant groups. Militants also open fire in the Aleppo province occasionally, as reported by the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria. The Syrian president was asked whether he considered the cooperation between Russia and Turkey, and sometimes the US, in supervising the Idlib ceasefire efficient.
"No, I don't think it is efficient for a simple reason � if it was efficient, we wouldn't have gone to war recently in many areas in Aleppo and Idlib. Because the Turkish regime was supposed to convince the terrorists in that area to withdraw and pave the way for the Syrian Army and the Syrian government and institutions to take control, but they didn't," Assad said.
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 distinguish between the armed opposition forces and terrorists. Nevertheless, the deal was not fully implemented and the fighting in the area continued. This March, the presidents agreed to a ceasefire Idlib as well as setting up of a security corridor along the M-4 motorway, patrolled by Russian and Turkish forces.
"Every time [Turkey] gives the same commitment. They have not fulfilled any of their promises or commitments. So, no, I wouldn't say this cooperation was effective, but let's see. They still have another chance to withdraw the terrorists north of the M4 in Idlib. This is their latest commitment in agreement with the Russian side, but they have not fulfilled it yet. So let's wait and see," the Syrian president added.
