The point -- an outpost staffed by a small number of troops to monitor any fighting -- was established nearly 70 kilometres (44 miles) from the
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
Anadolu said.
Idlib is nearly completely under the control of anti-government forces, predominantly Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
(HTS), a group led by al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate.Anadolu said a
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
-Syria border Wednesday night.
The latest post is in Maarrat al-Numan town in southeastern Idlib.
This is the sixth such position in the province after two were established earlier this month by the
Establishing the observation points is a key element in peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana aimed at ending the seven-year Syrian conflict.
One of the agreements of the talks -- sponsored by Turkey, Russia and Iran -- was to create four so-called de-escalation zones including Idlib.
The other three are the greater Damascus area, the southern Daraa region and Homs city.
Turkey last week said it would host a three-way summit with the Russian and Iranian leaders following last year's Sochi summit hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...The date has yet to be fixed but is one of many moves Turkey has been making with Moscow and Tehran despite being on opposite sides of the war.
Iran and Russia are staunch supporters of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
's regime but Ankara has called for Assad's ouster and supported Syrian opposition fighters.