Turkish, Russian military chiefs discuss Idlib on phone

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

The Turkish and Russian military chiefs had a discussion of developments in Syria’s Idlib province on the phone, the Turkish army said on Jan. 30.

Turkish Chief of General Staff Yaşar Güler and his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov discussed the latest developments in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, the Turkish Armed Forces said on Twitter

Located in northwestern Syria, Idlib has been a stronghold of opposition and anti-government armed groups since the outbreak of the civil war.

It is currently home to some 4 million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces from throughout the war-weary country.

Turkey and Russia agreed in September 2018 to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the zone, killing at least 1,300 civilians since the agreement.

On Jan. 10 Turkey announced a new cease-fire, but regime and Iranian-backed terrorist groups have since continued attacks.

More than 1.3 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks since the beginning of 2019.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.