Russia warns against Türkiye's military campaign in Idlib
Türkiye deploying troops to Syria to fight against government forces would be a “worst-case scenario”.
This was the comment of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov after Ankara threatened to carry out such a military operation.
 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Photo: RT. |
Earlier yesterday (February 19), Turkish President Erdogan announced that Ankara was preparing to launch a military offensive in Idlib to drive out the Syrian army. Russia's reaction to such a development would depend on the goals that the Turkish army decides to pursue, Dmitry Peskov said.
“If it is an operation against terrorist forces in Idlib, then this will certainly be in the spirit of the agreement between Russia and Türkiye. But if it is an operation against the Syrian armed forces, then this will be the worst-case scenario,” Peskov said.
Russia and Türkiye have agreed on a de-escalation process in Idlib, the last stronghold of anti-government forces in Syria. Under the Sochi agreement, Türkiye can use its forces to scale back and eventually halt attacks from within Idlib province. This is to avoid a large-scale military offensive by the Syrian army, which could trigger a refugee crisis from Syria to Turkey.
But in reality this does not happen, Mr. Peskov said.
“We are very pleased with the agreement reached in Sochi a year ago and with the mutual assistance between the two sides. However, we are not pleased after militants and terrorist groups began to carry out attacks from the Idlib territory against the Syrian armed forces and Russian military sites,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
Talks between Russia and Türkiye on how to resolve the situation in Syria’s Idlib province were held earlier this week but failed to produce a breakthrough. Commenting on the issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed rumors that Moscow had set a new set of demands on Ankara, saying both sides “need to implement everything that our leaders have agreed on.” Mr Lavrov stressed that Syrian government forces are operating in Idlib to counter violations of the agreement by anti-government groups.
The Syrian government has launched a series of military operations in response to cross-border attacks and taken control of large areas in Idlib. However, this has put them on a near-contact with Turkish forces stationed in Syria. At least two clashes have occurred between the sides./.
