The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) successful operations in Idlib have helped establish a safe-zone under the 2018 Sochi agreement, the commander of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria announced on February 12.
In his daily statement, Maj. Gen. Yuri Borenkov confirmed that the army has completely secured the M5 highway, which links the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo.
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The Russian commander stressed that the SAA’s large-scale operation in Greater Idlib against al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies was necessary, saying that Turkey had failed to implement its commitment within the Sochi agreement.
“Government forces operations ended terrorist attacks and put an end to civilian losses as a result of militants’ attacks and shelling,” Maj. Gen. Borenkov said.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Russia released a video showing Turkish troops moving within Idlib’s de-escalation zone and held Ankara responsible for the current escalation in the region.
Under Sochi agreement, Turkey had to help to establish a safe-zone in Idlib, reopen all highways and expel terrorist elements from the Syrian region. However, Ankara didn’t implement any of these commitments and even worked against some of them.
