Sochi agreement at stake as Turkey fuels the situation in Idlib

Although Russia and
Turkey signed an agreement in Sochi on September 18, 2018 to set up a
demilitarized zone in the Syrian city of Idlib to avoid war. The Sochi
agreement is now at stake as tensions between the two the countries have been
escalating.

For his part, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would not remain silent as the Idlib
tragedy, as he put it, continues.
“I hereby declare that
we will strike regime forces everywhere from now on regardless of the Sochi
deal if any tiny bit of harm comes to our soldiers at observation posts or
elsewhere," Erdogan said.
“We are determined to
push back (regime forces) behind the borders of the Sochi deal by the end of
February," Erdogan said.
“We will do whatever is
necessary both on the ground and in the air without any hesitation and without
any delay,” he added.
Meanwhile, a Syrian
Foreign Ministry official said that his country rejects completely any Turkish
presence in Syria. The official described the Turkish presence in Syria as an
obscene transgression on its sovereignty, according to Syrian Arab News Agency
(SANA).

For their part, analysts
Ivan Abakumov and Natalia Makarova stated in an article titled “Why Turkey is
dragging NATO into a war in Syria”, on February 12, that Erdogan plans to seize
the Syrian city of Aleppo as part of his Ottoman empire dream.
Sky News said that two
Turkish military convoys infiltrated the Syrian territories on February 12 and
headed towards the western countryside of Aleppo.
In the same vein, Simon
Bagdasarov, the Director of the Center for Middle East and Central Asia
Studies, said that Erdogan is seeking turn his country into a superpower by
urging NATO to join his operations in Idlib.
Bagdasarov added that
Erdogan wants to take over Aleppo, as it was the largest city, after
Constantinople, of the Ottoman Empire.
A Kremlin source has
revealed that Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed in a
phone call ways for a settlement for the situation in Syria, including the
tense situation in Idlib.
Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country was continuing to work with Russia to secure
a lasting ceasefire in Idlib.
The situation escalated
in Idlib after seven Turkish soldiers were killed in Idlib. On Feb. 11, five
Turkish soldiers were killed and five others were injured during an attack of
the Syrian Arab army.