Russian and Turkish Presidents agreed on common terms to reach a cease-fire deal in NW Syria’s Idlib, which turned out to be the new war front as the last bastion of receding revolutionary forces.
The deal struck by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also would set up a security corridor along a key east-west highway in Idlib province. Putin voiced hope the agreement will serve as a “good basis for ending the fighting in the Idlib de-escalation zone, put an end to the suffering of the civilian population and contain a growing humanitarian crisis.”
The agreement appears to achieve Russia’s key goal of allowing the Syrian government to secure control over strategic highways essential for consolidating its grip on the country after a devastating nine-year war.
But in a nod to Turkey’s interests, the deal also puts the brakes on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s push to reclaim control over all of Idlib province, the last opposition-controlled region that borders Turkey. Idlib is strategically important to Turkey to nib any efforts of the proposed Kurdistan-the land demanded by the ethnic Kurds, which Turkey view as terrorists.
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