Idlib Offensive Awaits Tehran Summit, Russia ‘Won’t Indefinitely Tolerate Situation’

Destruction in Syria’s Idlib province. AFP file photo
Destruction in Syria’s Idlib province. AFP file photo
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Idlib Offensive Awaits Tehran Summit, Russia ‘Won’t Indefinitely Tolerate Situation’

Destruction in Syria’s Idlib province. AFP file photo
Destruction in Syria’s Idlib province. AFP file photo

Moscow is awaiting a tripartite summit in Tehran next Friday to develop a Russian-Turkish-Iranian joint vision on a solution in Idlib, while Foreign Minister Sergei warned that Russia “could not indefinitely” tolerate the situation in the opposition-held Syrian province.

Speaking to university students in Moscow on Monday, Lavrov said the Syrian regime, Russia’s ally, had every right to wipe out militants in northern Idlib, Interfax news agency reported.

In a message addressed to Ankara, Lavrov stressed the need to separate the moderate opposition from terrorists.

"We are now taking the most active effort, together with our Turkish colleagues, together with the Syrian government, and with the Iranians as participants in the Astana format, to split the armed normal opposition forces from the terrorists on the ground,” Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived Monday on a surprise visit to Damascus, where he held talks with head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad and his Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, who is just back from a visit to Moscow.

His visit to Syria follows that of Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami last week.

Zarif met Assad to discuss "issues on the agenda for the tripartite meeting," according to the Syrian presidency's account on the Telegram messaging app.

Assad's office also said Iran and Syria "had similar views on the different issues" to be discussed.

On Sunday, informed Syrian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that regime forces were awaiting presidential orders to kick off an offensive against Idlib.

Assad has pledged to defeat the opposition in its last refuge in the northwestern province if the fighters do not surrender to government rule.

Sources said Monday that differences between Russia and Turkey concerning the situation in Idlib have declined following talks held between the two sides in the past weeks.

However, Russian media outlets said the gap has widened between Moscow and Tehran.

A Russian expert wrote on the Svobodnaya Pressa website that “Tehran is no more in need of Moscow in Syria,” and that it was working on enhancing its own presence and interests there.



Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Türkiye is training and advising Syria's armed forces and helping improve its defenses, and has no immediate plans for the withdrawal or relocation of its troops stationed there, Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters.

Türkiye has emerged as a key foreign ally of Syria's new government since opposition groups - some of them backed for years by Ankara - ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December to end his family's five-decade rule.

It has promised to help rebuild neighboring Syria and facilitate the return of millions of Syrian civil war refugees, and played a key role last month getting US and European sanctions on Syria lifted.

The newfound Turkish influence in Damascus has raised Israeli concerns and risked a standoff or worse in Syria between the regional powers.

In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler said Türkiye and Israel, which carried out its latest airstrikes on southern Syria late on Tuesday, are continuing de-confliction talks to avoid military accidents in the country.

Türkiye’s overall priority in Syria is preserving its territorial integrity and unity, and ridding it of terrorism, he said, adding Ankara was supporting Damascus in these efforts.

"We have started providing military training and consultancy services, while taking steps to increase Syria's defense capacity," Guler said, without elaborating on those steps.

Named to the post by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan two years ago, Guler said it was too early to discuss possible withdrawal or relocation of the more than 20,000 Turkish troops in Syria.

Ankara controlled swathes of northern Syria and established dozens of bases there after several cross-border operations in recent years against Kurdish militants it deems terrorists.

This can "only be re-evaluated when Syria achieves peace and stability, when the threat of terrorism in the region is fully removed, when our border security is fully ensured, and when the honorable return of people who had to flee is done," he said.

NATO member Türkiye has accused Israel of undermining Syrian peace and rebuilding with its military operations there in recent months and, since late 2023, has also fiercely criticized Israel's assault on Gaza.

But the two regional powers have been quietly working to establish a de-confliction mechanism in Syria.

Guler described the talks as "technical level meetings to establish a de-confliction mechanism to prevent unwanted events" or direct conflict, as well as "a communication and coordination structure".

"Our efforts to form this line and make it fully operational continue. Yet it should not be forgotten that the de-confliction mechanism is not a normalization," he told Reuters.