TRT World speaks to Huseyin Alptekin from SETA foundation. The latest push by the army and its allies has alarmed Turkey which has been deploying forces inside northern Idlib and setting up bases which it says are part of agreements with Iran and Russia over a de-escalation zone in Idlib. Idlib province is the biggest chunk of Syria still held by rebels fighting the regime leader Bashar al Assad, with a population swollen by Syrians who have fled regime advances in other parts of the country. Assad has defeated rebels in many parts of western Syria with critical help from Russia and Iran. The recent military escalation in western Syria has included an unprecedented attack by a squadron of drones on Russian military bases and has cast a shadow over Moscow’s efforts to convene a Syria peace congress later this month.
