{"id":16084,"date":"2018-09-23T19:24:52","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T19:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=16084"},"modified":"2018-09-23T19:24:52","modified_gmt":"2018-09-23T19:24:52","slug":"turkey-russia-discussing-idlib-airspace-control-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=16084","title":{"rendered":"Turkey, Russia discussing Idlib airspace control: Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nANKARA:\u00a0The partial transfer of control of the airspace over the de-escalation zone in Syria\u2019s northwestern province of Idlib from Moscow to Ankara is being discussed by the two sides, Russian sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe aim is to enable Turkey to conduct an aerial campaign against Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which Ankara recently designated a terrorist organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nA former Al-Qaeda affiliate, HTS is the strongest armed group in Idlib, the last stronghold of Syrian anti-government rebels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nIn February, HTS claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian warplane in Idlib using a surface-to-air missile.<\/p>\n

\nRussia, Turkey and Iran are monitoring the de-escalation zone in the province as part of a trilateral agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nTurkey has set up observation posts in Idlib in a bid to prevent clashes between rebels and government forces.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDiscussions are ongoing about the details of this transfer (of airspace control). I guess it will be limited to the buffer zone in Idlib for now,\u201d Yury Barmin, an analyst at the Russian International Affairs Council, told Arab News.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf Russia is taking steps to allow Turkey to use Idlib\u2019s airspace, it will give Turkey more room for maneuver in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nBut airstrikes by Ankara against HTS might create another refugee influx into Turkey, which already hosts more than 3 million Syrian refugees, Barmin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nIdlib is home to more than 1 million displaced Syrians, and its population exceeds 3 million. Turkey is concerned that the creation of a humanitarian crisis near its border would further swell its own refugee population.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nAfter a meeting on Sept. 17 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the two countries agreed to create a de-militarized zone in Idlib by Oct. 15.<\/p>\n

\nThe deal requires that all radical groups, including HTS, withdraw from the area and that all heavy weapons be removed.<\/p>\n

\nRussian and Turkish troops will conduct coordinated patrols to ensure that all armed groups respect the deal.<\/p>\n

\nEmre Ersen, a Syria analyst at Marmara University in Istanbul, said a transfer of airspace control would mean that Ankara and Moscow are determined to implement their latest agreement regarding Idlib.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cUntil now, Idlib\u2019s airspace has been fully controlled by Russia, which weakened Turkey\u2019s hand in trying to convince rebel groups in the region to abandon their arms,\u201d he told Arab News.<\/p>\n

\nTransferring airspace control \u201cwould give Ankara additional diplomatic leverage in its dealings with HTS,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf Ankara fails to persuade HTS to comply with the Putin-Erdogan deal regarding Idlib, it\u2019s almost certain that Russia and Syrian government forces will start a military operation in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nSo Turkey is sending a message to HTS that if carrots do not work, it has some sticks at its disposal, Ersen said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANKARA:\u00a0The partial transfer of control of the airspace over the de-escalation zone in Syria\u2019s northwestern province of Idlib from Moscow to Ankara is being discussed by the two sides, Russian sources said.\u00a0 The aim is to enable Turkey to conduct an aerial campaign against Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which Ankara recently designated a terrorist organization.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":16085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}