On Thursday in Moscow, negotiations will be held between the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan over the aggravation in the Syrian province of Idlib.
They can record the status quo in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
The Idlib de-escalation zone is the only one of the four zones created in 2017 in Syria that remains outside the control of official Damascus. The militants and the opposition dominate there – this is, first of all, the Syrian secular opposition represented by the “Syrian National Army” (contrary to the name, this is not the official Syrian army controlled by its president Bashar al-Assad).
In addition, an important role in Idlib is played by the association of radical Islamists of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* group, which is based on the Jebhat al-Nusra *. There used to be armed clashes between secular opposition and Islamists, but now they have stopped because both groups are fighting against the Syrian army. In addition, Turkey has a great influence on both groups, which is doing everything to ensure that they do not conflict with each other.
Aggravation in Idlib
The situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone escalated in late January – the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian air forces, launched an attack on the positions of militants. Quickly enough, the army occupied the large cities of Maaret-Nuuman and Sarakeb, as well as about 200 more settlements. In addition, the M5 Damascus-Aleppo highway was taken under control; for the first time in many years, civilian traffic resumed.
However, then the Turkish army intervened – with its support, the militants tried to partially select the areas occupied by the army. In particular, the militants managed to regain control of Sarakeb, but then the army again began to liberate the city. Now the city is shooting, but in general it is under the control of Damascus. It began patrolling the Russian military police.
Turkey and Syria during the hostilities in Idlib caused each other quite serious damage. The Turks actively used drones and artillery to support the militants. In turn, the Turks themselves fell under the shelling of Syrian artillery. For example, on February 27, the Turkish military, who were among the advancing militants, fell under the fire of Syrian artillery. 36 soldiers were killed, another 30 were injured. It is known that during these days the Turks lost more than 10 drones.
The losses of the Syrian army are also in the tens of soldiers and many units of military equipment.