Russia, Turkey to send troops to rebel-held Syria: Erdogan spokesperson

The soldiers would act as a peace-keeping force between the Baathist Syrian regime forces and Islamist rebel groups.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - Russia and Turkey were working on a plan to deploy troops to the Syrian province of Idlib held by alQaeda-allied rebel groups as a part of a de-escalation deal the two countries and Iran reached in early May, revealed a spokesperson for the Turkish President on Thursday.

"There is work on a mechanism in which the Russians and we will be in Idlib, with Iranians and again Russians in [capital] Damascus while Americans and Jordanians are stationed in [further south] Daraa province," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told the Turkish media.

Kalin said he expected delegations from Russia, Turkey, and Iran to further study the initiative to decrease the conflict during upcoming Syrian peace talks in July in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

According to the major Haberturk newspaper, Kalin refrained from calling the places where foreign troops were to be deployed "buffer zones."

But he hinted the soldiers would act as a peace-keeping force between the Baathist Syrian regime forces and Islamist rebel groups.

There was a suggestion from Russia that even the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan could contribute with a deployment of troops to Syria.

The Russian government has not made a comment corroborating or denying Kalin's remarks at the time of writing this report.

This development comes as Turkey sent more troops and armored vehicles during the week to its border with Syria much of whose north is under the US-allied Kurds' control.

 

Editing by Ava Homa