Turkey failed to honor Idlib deal, allowed outposts to merge with terrorist fortifications: Russia

In a statement released on Wednesday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov blasted Turkey for amassing troops in Idlib and the Western countries for turning a blind eye to the unlawful military build-up.

“No one in the West notices the actions of the Turkish side, which, in violation of international law, has deployed a strike force the size of a mechanized division to Syria’s Idlib,” he said.

Terrorist fortifications have merged with Turkish outposts in Idlib, said the official, adding that “attacks and mass artillery fire on neighboring civilian settlements and the Russian airbase at Khmeimim turned from sporadic to daily.”

“Amid the total cynicism and the West’s fake concerns over the humanitarian situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone, only the Russian center for reconciliation of the opposing sides and the legitimate Syrian government deliver to the liberated areas all the needed assistance for local residents daily,” he said.

“All of Russia’s official requests to the UN and Western countries — who delivered humanitarian aid across the Turkish border and all of it went not to refugees, but to terrorists — remained unanswered. All we heard were the lamentations about the need to ‘preserve the Sochi agreements at all costs,’” he added.

Russia won’t stop terror fight in Syria to solve EU’s refugee problem: Lavrov Russia says it will not stop fighting terrorism in Syria alongside the Damascus government to contain a new influx of refugees into Europe.

Kremlin hopes Putin, Erdogan can reach ‘common understanding’

 Meanwhile, the Kremlin expressed hope on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would agree on a set of joint measures regarding Idlib during their meeting on Thursday.

“We plan to discuss the Idlib crisis… We expect to reach a common understanding on the crisis, the cause of the crisis, the harmful effects of the crisis and arrive at a set of necessary joint measures,” he told reporters.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia signed an agreement in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, under which Ankara was required to establish observation posts in the militant-controlled Idlib and separate extremist terrorist from other armed anti-Damascus militant groups willing to engage in peace talks with the Syrian government. 

Turkey was also obliged to take effective measures to ensure a lasting ceasefire in the region.