Azernews.Az

By Ali Mustafayev

Turkey, Russia and Iran, the three sponsor countries of the Astana process on Syrian conflict, may start a joint military operation in Syria.

The Turkish media report on August 18 that the joint military operation may begin in the Syrian city of Idlib. Russia and Iran are expected to begin operations in the southern part of Idlib, and Turkey will advance from the northern direction.

The exact date of the joint operation’s start is not reported, but the Russian troops are already situated on the south of Idlib in Muradah and Halfaya settlements.

Previously Ankara expressed readiness to counter any threat at its borders. The Turkish Armed Forces are brought to full combat readiness in connection with the expected new military operations in Syria against the YPG.

Ankara accuses the YPG, which controls large swathes of Syrian territory along its border, of being an offshoot of the terrorist PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state, and calls on military allies, in particular the U.S., to cease the support.

Turkish army started “Euphrates Shield” operation against ISIL militants on 24 August, 2016. With the support from the Syrian opposition, Turkey took Jarabulus city on the north of Syria, and al-Bab city. Ankara informed in March, 2017 that the operation is successfully completed.

Iran sees the survival of the Syrian government as being crucial to its interest and participates in the conflict since its beginning, assisting the Syrian army in order to protect Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power.

Despite divergence of views regarding the political confrontation in Syria, Iran, Russia and Turkey work together to fight the terrorism and return peace to the region.

Syria has been suffering from the armed conflict since 2011. The conflict erupted between President Bashar al-Assad’s government along with its allies and forces opposing the government.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The IS, YPG and PYD are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.

Over 600,000 people became victims of this conflict, according to UN. These figures confirm that Syrian civil war is one of the most tragic events of the 21st century.

Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, hosted several rounds of Syrian talks since January 2017, which have resulted in a memorandum of understanding on creation of de-escalation zones in Syria.

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