On Thursday, 5 March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the escalation of the Syrian conflict in Idlib, inking a ceasefire agreement and agreeing on a humanitarian corridor leading to the north and south of the embattled province.
If violence is ever going to cease in the Syrian province of Idlib, one of the four formally demilitarised zones, it will likely have to be Turkey spearheading this, according to US Ambassador James Jeffrey, Special Representative for Syria Engagement, cited by CBS.
“What the Turks are saying now and we support them 100% is there cannot be such ceasefires anymore. They have to be real. They have to be enduring. There has to be a line on the ground that nobody violates”, he told the edition, referencing Turkey's latest offensive in Syria and the ceasefire deal inked by Ankara and Moscow.
Although Syrian President Bashar Assad previously succeeded in dealing with terrorist-held enclaves, Jeffrey, who is also the Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh*, warned that the Idlib standoff would be different.
“I do not think the Russians and Assad will win in Idlib”, he started off, further explaining why:
“…the reason is the Turks cannot back down or they will have 3 million new refugees on top of the almost 4 million that they have now from Syria and they cannot physically handle it”, he said.
“That's what…
