Russia Urges Turkey to Meet Its Obligations in De-Escalation Zones
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Russia’s Defense Ministry in separate letters to Turkey’s chief of the General Staff and intelligence chief urged Turkey to meet its obligations in de-escalation zones including Idlib.
Combat UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) attacking Russian military facilities in Syrian Hmeymim and Tartus overnight into January 6 were launched from the de-escalation zone in Idlib, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
"The drones were launched from Muazzara settlement located in the southwestern part of Idlib de-escalation zone controlled by the armed forces of the so-called moderate opposition," the ministry said in a commentary published in the Red Star newspaper on Wednesday.
In this respect, the Russian Defense Ministry has submitted letters to Turkey’s Chief of the General Staff Hulusi Akar and Hakan Fidan, the country’s intelligence chief.
"The documents stress that it is necessary for Ankara to meet assumed obligations to ensure ceasefire through armed forces’ control and intensify efforts to use check points in the de-escalation zone in Idlib for preventing such UAV attacks on any targets," the commentary said.
Earlier reports said that Russian military forces repelled a militant attack on Hmeymim and Tartus bases in Syria with the use of 13 combat UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) overnight into January 6. Seven UAVs were eliminated by assigned artillery systems Pantsir-S1 of Russian air defense units and six UAVs were intercepted, the ministry said. The decisions made by militants related to the attack could have been received from a country with high technological potential, the ministry said.
In accordance with a decision made by Russia, Iran and Turkey - the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire - in May 2017, de-escalation zones were set up in Syria. In mid-September, the guarantor countries announced the establishment of four such zones.
De-escalation zones include the Idlib Province, some parts of its neighboring areas in the Latakia, Hama and Aleppo Provinces north of the city of Homs, Eastern Ghouta, as well as the Daraa and al-Quneitra provinces in southern Syria.
Syria is in the final stages of a battle against Takfiri terrorist groups, which poured into the Arab country after the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.
On November 19, the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group was flushed out of its last stronghold in Syria’s Al-Bukamal. The city’s liberation marked an end to the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate it had declared in 2014.
