Syria’s Idlib emerges as Achilles heel in Russia-Turkey partnership

Source:al Monitor Date:31Jul2018

Best analysis of why at this juncture Turkey’s threat of  a deeper alliance with Russia against American  sanctions is not credible.

There are indications that the Syrian army will launch an operation against rebel forces in Idlib in September, after completing operations in the south of the country in Daraa and Quneitra. The possibility of such an operation against Idlib, where more than 100,000 militants have amassed following rebel evacuations from all over Syria, has made Turkey nervous. On July 14, in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that such an operation will be the end of the Astana process that Iran and Russia initiated with Turkey.