Further Turkish Military Reinforcements to Idlib, Rift with Moscow Deepens

This morning, the Turkish army delivered more of its military supporting vehicles into Idlib governorate, northwestern Syria, at a time when the Syrian army continues to advance in this province and the neighboring countryside of Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a Turkish military convoy of 50 vehicles entered Idlib and Aleppo, the latest in a series of Turkish reinforcements to Idlib for days now, while Ankara claims that the goal is to reinforce the observation points it has built there, in an effort to ensure a ceasefire.

In return, the Syrian army continues its military operations in Idlib and areas in northern Aleppo governorate. Earlier, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened Damascus with a military confrontation if the Syrian army did not withdraw, until the end of February, from the locations of the observation points set up by Ankara in northwestern Syria.

This months, 15 Turkish soldiers have been killed in clashes and strikes from the Syrian army. In return, Erdogan has threatened to target Syrian armed forces "wherever they are in Syria" if any other Turkish soldier is wounded.

This morning, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu repeated the warning to "take appropriate measures" unless the outstanding issues in Idlib with Russia are resolved through diplomatic means.

The Turkish minister stressed the impossibility of achieving any stability through a military solution, adding that a Turkish delegation will go to Moscow on Monday to discuss the Syrian file with the Russian officials.

The Turkish minister is scheduled to meet today with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during the Munich Security Conference.

Ankara supports armed factions in Idlib province, which is the last stronghold of the opposition in Syria, while Russia supports the Syrian army in the process of restoring the province.

The developments in Idlib reflected what appeared to be a growing rift between Ankara and Moscow, as the two sides exchanged accusations over the deteriorating situation in Idlib and the failure to fulfill the commitments previously made.

Turkey and Russia have repeatedly declared a cease-fire in the province, as part of their declared efforts to end the fighting in Idlib, but it was always failing.

Yesterday, Turkish Vice President Fouad Oktay considered that Ankara fulfilled its responsibilities in Idlib according to the agreements it concluded with Russia and Iran, after the escalation of violence there in the past weeks.

But Moscow says Turkey never met its agreements with Russia and is responsible for the "Idlib crisis". And it accused Ankara of "not fulfilling its obligations to separate the moderate (Syrian) opposition fighters" from the militants of extremist groups.

Under Russian-Turkish bilateral agreements, extremist groups must withdraw to a demilitarized zone in Idlib, which is controlled by opposition and jihadist factions.

The two sides start from contradictory positions in justifying their actions, as Turkey considers that the Syrian-backed Russian attack on Idlib and the countryside of Aleppo is pushing about a million Syrians to Turkey's borders, threatening Turkish national security.

However, Russia is sticking to the implementation of the earlier agreement, which obliges Turkey to dismantle the  extremist organizations, as well as Turkey's lack of commitment to hand over international routes to the Assad regime.