The future of the fighters of Al Qaeda delays the decision on Idlib

[Blexfraptor]

 

Idlib looks at Sochi, the Russian city where Vladimir Putin will receive Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a new meeting within 24 hours to try to avoid a large-scale military operation. It is the second international summit in just twelve days, after the one held in Tehran with the presence also of Iran, to discuss the future of the last province of Syria that is beyond the control of the Government of Damascus. When the offensive by the Syrian Army and its allied forces against this stronghold of Al Qaeda seemed imminent, diplomacy has managed to put an assault on pause that could cause "the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century", in the words of the Deputy Secretary General of United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock.

After seven years of war and more than half a million dead, Idlib, on the border with Turkey, has become the place where the militants of the different armed opposition groups have arrived after surrendering in places like Aleppo, Guta or Daraa. An estimated 70,000 fighters, including 10,000 members of the Syrian arm of al Qaeda, according to the UN special envoy for Syria, Stafan de Mistura, are entrenched among 3 million civilians. The international organization warns of the risk that the combats will lead to the displacement of at least 900,000 people so their agencies work against the clock to be able to give an emergency response if necessary. So far 30,000 civilians have already left Idlib and found refuge in areas under opposition control bordering Turkey such as the Kurdish canton of Afrin or the northern province of Aleppo. Erdogan has reinforced the military presence on the border with Syria and warns that it will not accept more refugees because it already has 3.5 million Syrians.

Departure of the jihadists

Russia demands the departure of militants belonging to groups considered "terrorists" by all parties, such as Al Qaeda, especially because they threaten the security of their bases in neighboring Latakia. From Ankara they work against the clock to try to close an agreement with the different armed groups they have sponsored since the beginning of the war. The Turkish objective would be for its loyalist militias to succeed in expelling the thousands of AQ fighters, including foreign jihadists, but their final destination is unknown. "We are making a great effort to achieve a ceasefire," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, for which they are in contact "with all the actors."