Sources: Turkish intelligence met with the Russians in the Idlib countryside
According to sources, three pickup trucks belonging to the Turkish intelligence set off from the Mastouma camp, where the Turkish forces are stationed, towards the Russian point in the sawmill of the village of Tarnaba, west of the city of Saraqib and overlooking the international road M5, Saturday, to hold a meeting with intelligence officers from the Russian forces, days before the Astana meeting scheduled to be held on November 11.
The latest meeting comes after previous meetings in Türkiye between the Turkish intelligence and government on the one hand, and the Syrian military factions, including a delegation from Hay’at Tahrir al Sham on the other.
Since last July, Turkish and Russian intelligence have met several times in Idlib, focusing mainly on military and political understandings related to the “Putin-Erdogan agreement” zone, including the opening of international and trade routes, reflecting the coordination between the Turkish and Russian military and intelligence forces in Idlib.
The following are the meetings held within the “Putin-Erdogan agreement” area:
On July 22, a meeting was held between Turkish and Russian intelligence in the city of Saraqib, with the aim of discussing the opening of trade routes that have been suspended for some time between the Turkish and Syrian regions, in addition to discussing the cessation of mutual targeting between Turkish and regime forces, and discussing restoring calm to the de-escalation zone in Idlib.
This was against the backdrop of mutual targeting between the two parties.
The Russians and their Turkish counterparts also met on August 20 to discuss the opening of a crossing on the M4 highway, which connects the provinces of Aleppo and Latakia.
A delegation from the Turkish intelligence and military attended the meeting with their Russian counterparts, in two separate meetings, inside the Russian point in the town of Tarnaba in the eastern Idlib countryside.
On August 26, a tripartite meeting was held, including the Turkish, Russian and Iranian delegations, in the city of Saraqib in the Idlib countryside, which is under the control of the regime forces.
The Russian and Turkish delegations discussed the opening of the M4 highway in northern Syria and securing the road, in addition to providing additional protection for the M5 Aleppo-Damascus road.
The attendees put forward several plans to convince the Syrians and prepare the conditions for opening roads and commercial crossings between the areas controlled by the Syrian factions and the Syrian government area.
The new meeting was a continuation of previous meetings that the Russians and Turks used to discuss in opening closed crossings and roads in Syria.
On October 22, a delegation from Turkish intelligence and a delegation of Russian officers from intelligence and military police held a meeting at the Russian base known as al Manshara on the M4 highway near the town of al Tarnabah in the Saraqib countryside.
The meeting revolved around the continuation of previous meetings between the Russians and their Turkish counterparts to discuss military developments in northern Syria.
The restoration of relations between Türkiye and Syria through Russian mediation was also discussed, in addition to discussing the Russian military escalation in Idlib.
This came in conjunction with Turkish intelligence conducting tours of military points deployed in the Putin-Erdogan agreement area in the Idlib countryside.
