Erdogan announces 4-way summit on Syria’s Idlib
Turkey’s president says his country is to join a quadrilateral meeting with Russia, Germany, and France to address the situation in the northwestern Syrian Province of Idlib, where Damascus’ anti-terror advances have posed a threat to the Turkish military presence.
"On March 5, we will meet with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, [French President Emanuel] Macron, and [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, and we will talk about these again," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by Reuters as saying on Saturday, referring to previous discussions with the heads of state concerning Idlib.
The province contains the largest remaining concentrations of Takfiri terrorists, who have fled there since September 2015, when Russia began lending airpower to Syria’s counter-terrorism operations.
Backed by the Russian aerial support, the Syrian military has enhanced its anti-terror efforts in Idlib over the past months.
The advances have liberated many areas across Idlib, including some hosting Turkish observation posts. Turkey began setting up the facilities in the province in 2018, when it agreed to cooperate with Russia to contain the situation in the vicinity of the Turkish border.
Turkey claims that more than a dozen of its troops have died during clashes with the Syrian forces. It has been sending huge reinforcements to Idlib, has threatened an “imminent” assault on the Syrian military, and asked Russia to “stop” the Syrian gains.
Erdogan suggested that Ankara did not intend to change its behavior in the province by saying, "I expressed our determination on [Idlib] clearly to Putin yesterday. I also mentioned it to Merkel and Macron."
Turkey has, on many occasions, been implicated in supporting anti-Syria violence, including by providing safe passage to Syria-headed terrorists, since 2011, when the Arab country fell victim to rampant militancy and terrorism.
Currently, it is widely known to be backing a number of anti-Damascus militant groups in Idlib.
ME
