ANKARA, BEIRUT: Turkey and Russia are discussing the establishment of a secure zone within Syria’s northwestern Idlib region where Syrians displaced by fighting can shelter during the winter, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday.
Akar said attacks by Syrian regime forces were continuing in the Idlib region despite a Jan. 12 cease-fire agreement reached by Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria’s nine-year conflict. Witnesses and opposition sources said on Wednesday Russian jets struck several opposition-held towns in southern Idlib for the first time since the cease-fire came into force.
Turkey, which has backed Syrian rebels fighting Bashar Assad and already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, fears that the offensive will trigger another wave of civilians fleeing toward its border.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday Turkey was determined to prevent the cease-fire breaking down to avoid 400,000 displaced people heading for Turkish territory.
Russia has said people could escape the attacks on opposition-held areas by crossing into territory controlled by Assad’s forces, but Akar said that was not an option.
“Our Idlib friends who have become refugees don’t want to go to a government-controlled area,” he told reporters in Ankara. “We are in talks with the Russians on establishing a secure zone, where the people can spend the winter period.”
His comments came two days after Turkish and Syrian intelligence chiefs met in Moscow on Monday, in the first publicly acknowledged meeting in years, and discussed the situation in Idlib.
Akar said Turkey had strengthened an observation post which has been surrounded by Syrian forces in the Idlib region, and would not be abandoning it.
The minister also said Turkey has not received an official request regarding a call by the Iraqi parliament on Jan. 5 for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
Israeli strike
Meanwhile, A missile strike on a Syrian airbase that Damascus blamed on Israel killed at least three Iran-backed militiamen, a monitor said on Wednesday.
Four missiles hit the T4 base in Homs province, north of the capital, at around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported, blaming the attack on Israel.
It said the strike caused damage but no casualties.
But the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least three Iran-backed militiamen were killed.
It said the strike damaged an Iranian arms depot, two military vehicles and a building still under construction.
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the dead were all non-Syrians, adding that Israel was likely behind the attack.
He said both Iranian forces and Russian military advisers were stationed at the base, which has been hit by Israeli forces in the past.
An Israeli army spokeswoman made no comment when contacted by AFP.
The missile strike adds to the growing tension in the Middle East after a US drone killed senior Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a targeted strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3.
Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Israel has carried out many raids against forces of the Syrian government and its allies, Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Israel insists it will not allow Syria to become a bridgehead for Iranian intervention in the region.
