MOSCOW: Theleaders of Russia and Turkey said yesterday they shared deep concerns overfighting in northwestern Syria, with Ankara warning it would take the stepsnecessary to protect its troops there. After meeting for talks near Moscow,Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan said theyhoped to work together to ease tensions in Idlib province.
Russian-backedgovernment forces launched a ground offensive this month against Idlib, one ofthe last major areas of Syria outside government hands. The fighting isthreatening to increase tensions between Russia and Iran, who back PresidentBashar Al-Assad's regime, and Turkey which supports some rebel groups."The situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone is of serious concern to usand our Turkish partners," Putin said at a press conference with Erdogancarried on Russian state television.
He said Turkeyhad "legitimate interests" to protect on its southern borders andsupported the creation of a security zone in the area. Putin said he andErdogan had agreed "additional joint steps" to "normalize"the situation in Idlib, but did not provide details. Moscow and Ankara lastyear struck a deal to create a "de-escalation" buffer zone aroundIdlib to avert a full-scale regime assault.
But Assad'sforces have been bombarding the province for months and on August 8 launched aground offensive. Turkey established 12 military observation posts in Idlibunder the buffer zone deal and one of them has been encircled by Syriangovernment forces. "The situation (in Idlib) has become so complicatedthat at this moment our troops are in danger," Erdogan said. "We donot want this to continue. All necessary steps will be taken here asneeded."
Yesterday's talksbetween Putin and Erdogan came ahead of a summit on Syria that will see the twoleaders joined by Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in Ankara on Sept 16. Erdogansaid the September meeting "should contribute to peace in the region".Both leaders said they supported Syria's territorial integrity, but Putinemphasized the need to keep fighting militant forces in Idlib. "Terroristscontinue shelling the positions of Syrian government forces, trying to attackRussian military installations," Putin said. "The de-escalation zone must not serveas a refuge for militants, let alone a bridgehead for new attacks."
Idlib isdominated by jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the former Al-Qaeda affiliatein Syria. Recent fighting has been fierce in the province, the last major frontin a war that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since2011. Yesterday, clashes between anti-government fighters and regime forces innorthwestern Syria killed 51 combatants on both sides, according to the SyrianObservatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.
Putin and Erdoganmet on the sidelines of the MAKS international air show on the outskirts ofMoscow - a showcase for Russia's military and civil aerospace industry. The twoleaders highlighted their increased cooperation, which saw Turkey begin takingdelivery in July of Russian S-400 missile systems it ordered in defiance ofwarnings from Washington.
Turkey's defenseministry said the second stage of deliveries had begun yesterday and would lastfor a month. Putin said he and Erdogan had discussed further militarycooperation, including on Russia's Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet. A move by NATOmember Turkey to purchase Russian fighters would be sure to further anger Washington."We have many opportunities, we demonstrated new weapons systems and newelectronic warfare systems," Putin said. "In my opinion there was alot of interest from our Turkish partners."
Meanwhile,Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria said yesterday their forces had startedto withdraw from outposts along the Turkish border after a US-Turkish deal fora buffer zone there. They said work had begun Saturday on "the firstpractical steps - in the Ras al-Ain area - in removing some earth mounds andwithdrawing a group of (Kurdish) People's Protection Units and heavyweapons".
On Monday, theyrepeated the same steps in Tal Abyad, "showing the seriousness of ourcommitment to current understandings" on the buffer zone, thesemi-autonomous Kurdish administration said in a statement. The so-called"safe zone" agreed by Washington and Ankara earlier this month aimsto create a buffer between the Turkish border and Syrian areas controlled bythe Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), a group Ankara sees as"terrorists".
Details of thesafe zone are currently hazy, and no final date has been set for when it wouldbe established. But on Monday, Erdogan said Turkish troops would soon enternortheast Syria. "Our armed drones, drones and helicopters are in theregion," he said. "We expect our ground troops to enter the regionvery soon," he told supporters in eastern Turkey.
On Saturday,Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said a US-Turkey operations center aimedat creating the buffer area was at "full capacity". He said the firstjoint helicopter flight took place on Saturday afternoon. Mazlum Abdi, thechief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, on Saturday said his forceswould support the implementation of the US-Turkey deal.
Turkey has repeatedlythreatened to attack Kurdish-held areas in northeast Syria. Ankara considersthe YPG, which forms the backbone of the SDF, to be an extension the outlawedKurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - a group that has fought a bloody insurgencyinside Turkey for 35 years. The "safe zone" was initially suggestedby Washington to dissuade Ankara from carrying out another cross-border attack,after previous offensives in 2016 and 2018.
SDF spokesmanMustafa Bali told Reuters the strip along the border would vary between 5 and14 km and will include rural areas or military positions, not cities or towns.The YPG and SDF will dismantle barricades there and hand over control tomilitary councils of local fighters, he said. Bali said Turkish and US-ledcoalition forces would patrol the border strip but be based inside Turkey. Thedeal creates "a security mechanism, not safe zone, that assuages Turkey'sclaims of fearing over its national security," he added.
A source familiarwith the talks told Reuters that although Washington and Ankara were stilldiscussing how deep the zone would go, they had agreed to start work on onestretch of the border. "The safety mechanism arrangement is beingimplemented in phases," the source said, adding that arrangements would varyat different parts of the border.
The source saidUS-Turkish joint patrols will monitor the removal of heavy weapons,fortifications and tunnels, along with YPG presence between Tal Abyad and Rasal-Ain, two Syrian border towns about 100 km apart. That stretch is around aquarter of the whole border that could be covered by the zone, which Turkeysays should extend 20 miles (32 km) inside Syria.
A senior Turkishofficial said Ankara and Washington had bridged some, but not all, of theirdifferences. "There was a rapprochement, but our insistence on the 20miles persists. The United States has taken steps to improve this, but they arestill not enough," the official said. "It is not possible for us toaccept the SDF's presence there." - Agencies