MESOPOTAMIA NEWS IDLIB BACKGROUNDER & UPDATE – SYRIA

Syria’s Idlib Faces Deadline for Buffer Zone

15 Oct 2018 – The Syrian regime said it is ready to fight rebel groups (Reuters) in the northern province of Idlib, considered a final opposition stronghold, if they do not remove heavy weapons and fighters by a Monday deadline. The demand is part of a Russian-Turkish deal to establish a buffer zone in the area.

The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, said Russia must determine if Syrian rebels abide by the demilitarization agreement. Jordan announced yesterday that it will reopen its Naseeb-Jaber border crossing (Al Jazeera) with Syria, a major channel for commercial goods that had been closed for three years. Israel said it will reopen a border crossing to Syria (Times of Israel) that was closed four years ago for exclusive use by UN peacekeeping forces.

ANALYSIS

“While Putin is supportive of al-Assad, he also wants to keep Turkey engaged in Russian-directed peace talks and maintain positive ties between Moscow and Ankara, in the hope of prying this important NATO member away from the EU and the United States,” Aron Lund writes for IRIN.

“The Astana agreement signed by Turkey, Russia and Iran in May 2017, created four de-escalation zones, one of them in northern Syria. Since then, Syrian government forces have chipped away at the area supposedly covered by the agreement, after conquering three other designated zones,” Harun al-Aswad writes for Middle East Eye.

“For both Erdogan and Putin, the deal will be used as a springboard for broader international negotiations on the future of Syria with European powers and other stakeholders,” Iyad Dakka writes for World Politics Review.