Turkey says troops will be deployed to Syria’s Idlib with Russian forces

Turkish Presidency spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said on Thursday that Turkey and Russia would deploy troops in Syria’s Idlib region as part of a de-escalation agreement brokered by Russia last month, Reuters reported. 

According to the story, Kalın said the de-escalation zones, agreed by Turkey, Russia and Iran, would be further discussed during talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana in early July. 

“We will probably be most prominent in the Idlib region with the Russians; mostly Russia and Iran around Damascus, and a mechanism involving the Americans and Jordan in the south in the Deraa region is being worked on,” Kalın said. 

These forces could minimize the possibility of clashes, Kalın noted. 

Under their May 4 accord, Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed to establish four separate de-escalation zones in Syria for at least six months. 

The largest of the planned zones includes Idlib province, which neighbors Turkey, and adjoining districts of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces. 

The other three zones are in northern Homs province, the Eastern Ghouta region east of the capital Damascus and along the Jordanian border in southern Syria. 

The three countries had been due to finalize maps of the de-escalation zones by June 4 but have not said whether agreement has been reached.