Turkey and Russia to deploy in Syria's Idlib
Turkish and Russian personnel will be deployed in Syria's northern Idlib region as part of a de-escalation agreement brokered by Russia last month, Turkish broadcasters quoted President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman as saying on Thursday.
According to Reuters reports, Ibrahim Kalin said the de-escalation zones, agreed by Turkey, Russia and Iran, would be further discussed during talks in the Kazakh capital Astana in early July, Haberturk television channel said.
"We will probably be most prominent in the Idlib region with the Russians; mostly Russia and Iran around Damascus, and a mechanism involving the Americans and Jordan in the south in the Deraa region is being worked on," Kalin was quoted as saying.
Vladimir Shamanov, head of the Russian Duma defense committee, told RIA news agency Moscow was discussing proposals to send Kazakh and Kyrgyz troops to Syria with representatives of those countries. "The negotiation process has begun, there is no decision yet," he was quoted as saying
The agency reminds, that under their May 4 accord, Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed to establish four separate de-escalation zones in Syria for at least six months.
The largest of the planned zones includes Idlib province, which neighbors Turkey, and adjoining districts of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces.