'Turkey essential to preventing bloodbath in Syria’s Idlib’

As Syrian President Bashar al-Assad prepares for an offensive against the last opposition-held stronghold of Idlib, Turkey holds a major responsibility in preventing bloodshed and is seen as a critical player that could ensure peace in the region.

Speaking to Yeni Şafak daily, Idlib Provincial Assembly President Ghassan Hamo evaluated the recent situation in Syria and stressed that the only bloodless solution in Syria’s Idlib, where more than 4 million civilians live, was to implement Turkey’s formula.

He also stressed that every initiative undertaken without Turkey may trigger fresh disasters in the region.

“In such a case, everybody loses; Turkey is the only key for peace and stability in Idlib,” Hamo added.

Idlib, located in northwestern Syria on the Turkish border, has faced intense attacks by the Bashar al-Assad regime after a vicious civil war broke out in 2011. Since March 2015, Idlib is no longer under the control of the Assad regime and has been overrun by opposition groups.

In recent weeks, the Assad regime has dropped leaflets over Idlib province urging people to surrender, opened a route for civilians to cross into government territory and, according to a war monitor, sent ever more reinforcements to the front. It has stepped up air strikes and shelling near the front lines, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“It is obvious what the Assad regime and Russia are doing in Aleppo, Ghouta, Homs and Daraa. We all know what they did to those civilians and armed fighters. We don’t trust Russia, Iran and the Assad regime in any way. Civilians in Idlib will not accept any solution that does not include Turkey,” Hamo said.

Stressing Assad’s vicious chemical attacks in Syria, he stated, “The Assad regime carried out chemical attacks on Idlib’s Khan Sheikhoun province. It used chemical weapons twice in Ghouta and Douma. Independent international organizations reported more than 70 chemical attacks carried out by the regime. We have been informed that they have dispatched canisters in the Hama-Morek region.”

The United Nations called on Russia, Iran and Turkey on Thursday to forestall a battle in Idlib which would affect millions of civilians and could see both terrorists and the government potentially using chlorine as a chemical weapon.

“Bashar Assad’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem visited Syria’s Lattakia last week. He said that their goal after Idlib is Turkey’s Hatay. More than 3,000 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists deployed in the Hama region are waiting for a command to attack Idlib. Their aim is to siege Afrin and rejoin the Jarablus-Afrin line” he said.

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20, 2018 in Syria’s northwestern region of Afrin to eradicate the area of terrorists belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)’s Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), following Turkey’s seven-month Euphrates Shield Operation which succeeded in clearing large swathes of Syrian territory from Daesh.

Additionally, during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Thursday, al-Moualem said that government forces will “go all the way” in Idlib.

“The Idlib issue does not pertain to Idlib alone. The main aim of the smear campaign conducted through the discourse of terror is to eliminate the Free Syrian Army entirely. However, the FSA is the backbone of Idlib.”

“Turkish troops remain ‘heroes’, and Erdoğan remains to be ‘the hope of the oppressed’ in the hearts of the Syrians,” he concluded.

Turkish forces are present at 12 points from Idlib's north to south, which are currently being fortified with cement walls and bulletproof watch towers against a regime attack.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.