'Turkey-Russia deal on Idlib ends Assad dream to regain control over Syria'

A deal brokered between Turkey and Russia over Syria's northwestern Idlib region puts an end to President Bashar al-Assad's dream of regaining full control over the country, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander said on Tuesday.

The buffer zone agreed to in Idlib will save civilian lives and protect the area from Syrian army bombing and create a "geographic area" under the control of the FSA that is capable of pushing for a post-Assad political transition in Syria.

"The Idlib deal preserves lives of civilians and their direct targeting by the regime. It buries Assad's dreams of imposing his full control over Syria," prominent FSA commander Mustafa Sejari said.

The deal has "practically excluded" a Syrian government offensive in the region, the spokesman for the opposition Syrian Negotiations Commission told Reuters.

The "scenario of attack is practically excluded, at least for a period of time that is not small, and we hope that it will be permanent," Yahya al-Aridi.

Aridi said the deal announced on Monday had safeguarded the lives of millions of Syrians and was an indication that the "path of peace" must now be opened.

Turkey and Russia on Monday agreed to turn Idlib into a demilitarized zone after a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia's coastal city of Sochi.

Ankara and Moscow signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the stabilization of the situation in Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are prohibited.

"We have agreed on the establishment of a weapons-free zone between the opposition- and [Assad] regime-controlled areas," Erdoğan said in a news conference with Putin in the Black Sea coastal city of Sochi, following a meeting between the two leaders.

Putin said the demilitarized zone will extend between 15 to 20 kilometers (9-12 miles) deep into Idlib by Oct. 15. He added that the establishment of the zone would be accompanied by the withdrawal of armed groups, including the al-Nusra Front.

Putin said all heavy weapons had to be withdrawn from the zone by Oct. 10, according to Erdoğan’s proposal. This includes tanks, rocket launchers, guns and mortars of all opposition groups.

Erdoğan said Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols along the zone's perimeter, and the two countries will restore transit routes between Syria's Aleppo, Latakia, Hama by the end of 2018.