Russia: There is no alternative to cooperating with Turkey to resolve the Syrian Idlib issue and we expect it to be liberated from the terrorists

Russia confirmed that it does not see a substitute for cooperation with Turkey to resolve the Idlib issue, stressing that it expects to liberate this Syrian province from terrorists, which will guarantee the security of the Russian and Syrian military.

In a speech to the “Great Game” broadcast on Russian Channel One, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not hide its concern that the issue of “the continuing terrorist threat” in the Idlib region, northwest of Syria, could not be resolved.

“The process of separating the terrorists has not yet been implemented in Idlib (from the other armed formations that are part of the opposition), and the terrorists are still active there, and they pose a threat to the Syrian army and our military”, Peskov said.

But he pointed out that there is “no alternative” to cooperating with Turkey in this direction, “and this is what is happening now”, stressing that Russia expects to ensure the liberation of Idlib from terrorists and to secure Syrian and Russian military personnel active in the country.

The Kremlin spokesman stressed that removing the terrorists from the Idlib region was “a responsibility of Turkey” under the Russian-Turkish agreement signed in Sochi more than a year ago.

Most of the Syrian province of Idlib, in addition to some parts of the governorates of Homs, Latakia and Aleppo, is part of the de-escalation zone that was established in the framework of the Astana negotiating process between Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Idlib represents the last bastion of armed formations in Syria, headed by the organization “Headquarters for the Liberation of Al Sham” (formerly the “Al Nusra Front”), which the Syrian government accuses of launching continuous attacks on the positions of government forces and civilians in the area.

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed in Sochi on September 17, 2018, a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the work of the ceasefire regime in Idlib, stipulating the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Syrian government forces and armed factions, with Turkey taking responsibility for Separating the so-called moderate Syrian opposition from terrorist formations.