Turkey on Thursday has officially evacuated another military post in northern Hama, a city in west-central Syria. Carried out in accordance with understandings reached with Russia, the move was preceded by a similar withdrawal on Oct. 19.
“Turkish forces stationed in the eleventh observation post in Shir Mghar village in Jabal Shashaboo, north-west of Hama province, are getting ready to evacuate it, like in Morek where Turkish forces started evacuating their post 10 days ago,” reliable sources told the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
It is worth noting that Turkish forces had been stationed in Shir Mghar on June 14, 2018.
Soldiers and military equipment at Shir Mghar were moved to a new military base located on a strategic hill in southern Idlib.
Sources cited five convoys packing logistics equipment alongside three military vehicles being transported to Qoqfin.
As for the ongoing evacuation at Morek, where the ninth Turkey military outpost was stationed, sources confirmed Turkish forces having demolished the cement barrier they erected at the location.
Turkish forces are rearranging deployment across observation posts in regime-held areas in Syria. This came to avoid the threat of being within the shooting range of regime operations and follows tight besiegement imposed by Syrian regime forces.
It is also to prevent clashes between Syrian and Turkish forces in case of developments.
In other news, Moscow has expedited its efforts to prepare for holding an international conference on refugees in Damascus in November.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Thursday met with a high-level Russian delegation advocating for jointly hosting the international conference on refugees.
The proposed dates for the Russia-sponsored conference are Nov. 11-12.
The Russian delegation, led by President Vladimir Putin's special envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, met with Assad, according to state news agency SANA.
The two sides discussed efforts to ensure the conference achieves positive results that contribute to “alleviating the suffering of Syrian refugees and allowing them to return to their homeland and their normal life,” particularly after restoring stability and security in most of Syria, SANA said after the meeting.
Despite the official delegation pushing to hold the conference, many Russian circles have expressed pessimism towards it being a successful effort.
Many are convinced that the appropriate conditions for the meeting are not yet met.
