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Turkey, Russia agree to demilitarized zone in Idlib by The Region - 18/09/2018 14:47

Turkey and Russian announced the creation of a 15-kilometer demilitarized zone along the border of rebel-held areas in Idlib after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian president Vladimir Putin met on Monday. The announcement means that any Syrian government offensive to retake the province will be delayed by several months, and further legitimizes Turkey's occupation of northwest Syria. Putin said in a press conference that the zone would be implemented by October 15th, and that “radically-minded rebels, including al-Nusra” would be forced to withdraw from the area, as well as the “heavy weapons, tanks, rockets systems and mortars” of all rebel groups. Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said that, at this time, there would be no military operation in Idlib. The definition of 'radically-minded' rebels that will be forced to withdraw is unclear. While Turkey has recently listed HTS as a terrorist organization, many of the rebel militias operating in Euphrates Shield areas and in occupied Afrin espouse radical Islamist views while recieving direct Turkish support. Erdogan said that the agreement had prevented a “humanitarian crisis” in the province, 60% of which is controlled by al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and which U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Brett McGurk has described as the largest al- Qaeda safe haven since 9/11. Joint Turkish and Russian patrols would maintain the demilitarized zone, according to statements by both leaders. Syrian state news agency SANA said that the Syrian government “welcomes” the agreement, claiming that Syria will support any deal that “stops bloodshed and contributes to reestablishing security and stability to each inch that was struck by terrorism.”