ANKARA: Turkey has summoned the ambassadors of Russia and Iran to protestthe Assad regime’s violations of de-escalation zone borders in Syria’sIdlib in recent days, the Turkish foreign ministry said Tuesday.
According to diplomatic sources, Turkey informed Russia and Iran about itsconcerns over the Assad regime’s violations of the de-escalation agreementin Idlib.
The foreign ministry told Russia’s Ambassador to Ankara Alexei Yerkhov thatthe violations must end until the “Syrian National Dialogue Congress” isheld on January 29.
Turkey considers the regime attacks as not simple ceasefire violations butas serious violations of the borders agreed upon during the Astana processby the three guarantor countries, the sources said.
Attacks on the moderate opposition by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad’s regimeforces in Idlib province harm the efforts to reach a political solution,Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had said earlier in the day.
“With the excuse of al-Nusra, the regime is targeting the moderateopposition. This damages the process of political resolution. The partiesthat will convene in Sochi should not do this,” Çavuşoğlu told reporters inAnkara ahead of the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) groupmeeting in Parliament.
Çavuşoğlu’s comments came a day after Syrian regime forces captured 14villages as they advanced on the largest moderate opposition-held enclavein the country’s north amid a wave of airstrikes. The troops aim to reachan opposition-held air base in Idlib province and secure the road linkingthe capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest.
As part of the de-escalation zones, agreed in a tripartite consensusbetween Turkey, Russia, and Iran, Turkish forces are also currently inSyria’s Idlib province, which is also bordering the YPG-held Afrin region,monitoring the process in the military posts set up in the province.
The advancement of the regime forces may also lead to nearing of the Syriantroops with the monitoring of the Turkish forces. How far the regime forceswill advance and how the interaction between Turkish forces, backing themoderate opposition, will be, also remains as an unanswered question at themoment.