MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2020) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will meet in Moscow on Thursday to discuss further steps that should be taken in the embattled Syrian province of Idlib to prevent a crisis that continues to reemerge throughout the years despite myriads of joint meetings and agreements calling for a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone.
Last year alone, Putin and Erdogan met eight times to discuss the troubled Arab republic. Most recently, the situation in northwestern Syria escalated into fighting between the government forces and Turkey-backed militants, which resulted in the loss of over 30 Turkish troops last week. Turkey has responded by targeting Syrian troops and equipment.
Russia, the Syrian government's key ally, blamed Turkey for flouting commitments it made under the 2018 Sochi deal on demilitarizing the Idlib province, in which it promised to separate jihadists from rebels who are willing to talk to authorities in Damascus about a political settlement.
The 2018 Russian-Turkish memorandum retains the status quo on the Turkish military presence in Idlib but was enacted only under the condition that all of the terrorists and radical groups left the de-escalation zone by October 15, 2018. Moscow and Ankara agreed to take effective measures to ensure a stable ceasefire in the zone and to conduct joint patrols.
As a result of the military escalation in Idlib, there has been a fresh influx of migrants to the European Union. Erdogan announced on Saturday that Turkey would no longer be able to restrain the flows of migrants and refugees, and opened its border with Europe. Since the announcement, thousands of migrants have been blocked at the border.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sputnik was told by former Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis that the two leaders may agree on the creation of a safe zone in the north of Syria along the border with Turkey in order to facilitate the return of the refugees, although the international community could insist that the safe zone be controlled by an international force and not by the Turkish army.
Erdogan is likely to ask Putin on Thursday to help implement measures such as "not to prevent the Turkish air force to enter the Syrian air space in Idlib and to carry out attacks at the Syrian forces, to secure that the Syrian forces withdraw from the areas it has seized after the Astana/Sochi agreements and to secure a ceasefire and the establishment of a secure zone [safe zone] in Idlib to be controlled by the Turkish army," according to Yakis.
The Russian president, in turn, may ask the Turkish leader to fulfill the commitment under the Sochi agreement of 2018 and disarm the opposition in Idlib.
SYRIAN OPPOSITION OF THE SAME VIEW
Syrian opposition figures told Sputnik on Tuesday that the presidents of Russia and Turkey were likely to agree on creating a safe zone in Syria's north during their meeting, as well as on modifying the bilateral Sochi agreement on the demilitarization of Syria's Idlib province.
"They can agree on creating a safe zone along the border with Turkey, 25 kilometers [15.6 miles] deep, to facilitate the return of refugees," Mahmoud Afandi, the secretary of Syrian opposition movement Popular Diplomacy, told Sputnik.
Ayham Ghazzi, a member of the opposition Syrian Negotiation Commission, suggested that Turkey had "a green light to go inside Syria," noting that Ankara would try to establish a demilitarized zone in the north of the country and drive migrants there.
Dima Moussa, the vice-president of the opposition Syrian National Coalition and a Syrian constitutional committee member, told Sputnik that the idea of creating a safe zone in Syria along the border with Turkey had previously been discussed but lacked momentum for being implemented.
In the meantime, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen called on Putin and Erdogan to find an immediate diplomatic solution that would contribute to ending the fighting in the Idlib province.
