Turkish army tanks and military personal are stationed in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016. © Umit Bektas / Reuters
On September 16, a diplomat of Syria Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that the Syrian government commitment to the de-escalation agreement doesn’t legalize the presence of Turkish forces on Syrian territories, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The diplomat told SANA that the Syrian government authorized Russia and Iran sides to complete the Idlib governorate de-escalation agreement as the guarantors of the Syrian govern ate side.
The diplomat also said that the deal is a chance for the Turkish government the guarantors of the “terrorist side” to changes it positions and stops arming, financing and dispatching terrorists to Syria, and helps establish security in the troubled areas.
“Therefore, the agreement to set up de-escalation zones in Syria does not legitimize the presence of Turkish troops on the Syrian soil, and the Syrian government views such deployment as illegal,” the diplomat added.
Furthermore, the diplomat stressed that the agreement is a temporary agreement that aims at reopening Damascus-Hama-Aleppo highway. It’s very unlikely that the highway can be reopened peacefully as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that controls wide areas of the highway in the southwestern Aleppo countryside was not a part of the agreement, and stand against it.
It is very likely that soon the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) backed by Russia and Iran will launch a military operation in the southwestern Aleppo countryside to reopen Damascus-Hama-Aleppo highway. In the same time Turkey could enter some areas in the northern Idlib countryside to pressure HTS and aid the SAA advance in the south.
