Alwaght- Russian announced Syrian army will halt operation to liberate Idlib province from terrorists after Russian and Turkish presidents agreed on Monday to establish a demilitarized zone between government and militants and joint patrols to enforce the compromise.
The announcement was made on Monday during a press conference in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Speaking alongside Erdogan, Putin said the 15-20km-wide zone would be established by October 15.
This would entail a "withdrawal of all radical fighters" from Idlib, including the al-Nusra Front, Putin said, referring to Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is dominated by a rebel faction previously known as al-Nusra Front before renouncing its ties to al-Qaeda.
Putin added that heavy weapons would be withdrawn from all opposition forces by October 10 - an approach supported by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
By the end of 2018, transportation routes linking Syria's key port of Latakia with major cities Aleppo and Hama must also be restored, added the Russian president, a major Assad ally.
Describing the agreement as a "serious result", Putin said that "Russia and Turkey have confirmed their determination to counter terrorism in Syria in all its forms".
For his part, Erdogan said both his country and Russia would carry out coordinated patrols in the de-militarized zone, and reiterated that the biggest threat to Turkey was the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), who control swaths of territory in northeast Syria.
"We decided on the establishment of a region that is cleaned of weapons between the areas which are under the control of the opposition and the regime," said Erdogan, whose administration backs certain rebel groups in Idlib.
"In return, we will ensure that radical groups, which we will designate together with Russia, won't be active in the relevant area," he added.
Following the press conference, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the agreement between Putin and Erdogan meant that no military action would be taken against Idlib, according to Russian news agencies.
Mohammad Javad Zarif Foreign Minister of Iran, a major player in Syria developments, took to twitter on Tuesday hail the Ankara-Moscow deal saying it was reached thanks to the meetings and negotiations held in recent weeks, including the meeting of the Russian and Turkish and Iranian leaders.
"Intensive responsible diplomacy over the last few weeks-pursued in my visits to Ankara & Damascus, followed by the Iran-Russia-Turkey Summit in Tehran and the meeting is Sochi-is succeeding to avert war in #Idlib with a firm commitment to fight extremist terror. Diplomacy works," Zarif said
The city of Idlib is the last remaining stronghold of foreign-backed militant and terrorist groups in Syria.
