{"id":990,"date":"2017-10-08T16:47:38","date_gmt":"2017-10-08T16:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madaresharghi.com\/turkish-armys-reconnaissance-team-crosses-into-syria-as-part-of-idlib-offensive\/"},"modified":"2017-10-08T16:47:38","modified_gmt":"2017-10-08T16:47:38","slug":"turkish-armys-reconnaissance-team-crosses-into-syria-as-part-of-idlib-offensive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/turkish-armys-reconnaissance-team-crosses-into-syria-as-part-of-idlib-offensive\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish army&#039;s reconnaissance team crosses into Syria as part of Idlib offensive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/madaresharghi..com\">madaresharghi<\/a><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2 class=\"lide\">A small army reconnaissance team from Turkey has reportedly crossed the border into Syria\u2019s northwestern province of Idlib ahead of a planned deployment of the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA)\u2019s forces in the largely militant-held region.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div readability=\"130\">\n<p>\n\tA top FSA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, announced the news on Sunday, a day after Turkish President Recep\u00a0Tayyip Erdogan said a major military operation conducted by the armed opposition group and supported by the Turkish army had just begun to liberate the militant-held areas of Idlib from the Takfiri Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist outfit.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe HTS terrorist group is\u00a0spearheaded by an al-Qaeda affiliate known as the Nusra Front, which changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham last year, and has already captured much of Idlib while holding swathes of land in Syria\u2019s northern regions.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tMeanwhile, reports said that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), using howitzers fixed on the border, shelled positions held by the HTS earlier in the day to pave the way for the progression of the FSA forces into the volatile province. According to a member of the FSA group, the Turkish shelling came after the HTS militants fired a missile across the border.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Turkish shells fell in the vicinity of a camp, designated for displaced people\u00a0along the border, spread panic but caused no casualties.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\"><figcaption\/><\/figure>\n<p>\n\tThe new operation in Idlib will pave the way for establishing a planned \u201cde-escalation\u201d zone in the province, where Erdogan has said Turkey would deploy troops, but the HTS terrorists have pledged to keep fighting. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tErdogan on Sunday said that Turkey was implementing a deal agreed with Russia and Iran to curb violence in Idlib, in cooperation with the FSA. \u201cOur efforts in Idlib are going on, in cooperation with the Free Syria Army, without problems at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBack in May, the fourth round of the intra-Syrian talks, held in Kazakhstan&#8217;s capital, Astana, resulted in an agreement on creating four de-escalation zones across Syria, with Russia, Iran, and Turkey serving as guarantor states.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThree of the safe zones have\u00a0been created to date in Syria\u2019s central province of Homs, in the Eastern Ghouta area of the southern province of Rif Dimashq, and a southwestern militant-controlled stretch along the border with Jordan. They have sharply reduced fighting in the conflict zones.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\"><figcaption\/><\/figure>\n<p>\n\tThe newly launched operation is regarded as a strong push for establishing the fourth zone, to be set up in Idlib. Last month, Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara agreed on the details of the safe zone in the volatile province, which borders Turkey.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe Turkish president said on Saturday the major offensive had been the follow-up of the so-called Euphrates Shield Operation in northern Syria, which was launched in August last year without granting any permission from Damascus, in a declared objective of clearing Turkey\u2019s southern border of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHe added that the Turkish army was currently supporting the FSA from within Turkey&#8217;s borders, while the Russian air force was providing air support to the operation.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tTurkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Sunday said Ankara was cooperating with Moscow in the ongoing offensive in the province, while \u201cwe will provide security in Idlib.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\"><figcaption\/><\/figure>\n<p>\n\tIdlib province has been the destination of many militant groups who were relocated under deals with Damascus in the past year. Terrorist alliances, however, are still operating in the province, controlling a considerable part of land.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tLast month, the Russian military announced that the Syrian government had managed to liberate 85 percent of the country from the grips of terrorist groups, some two years after Moscow began a counterterrorism campaign in Syria at the official request of Damascus.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSyria has been fighting different foreign-sponsored militant and terrorist groups since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated in August last year that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>madaresharghi A small army reconnaissance team from Turkey has reportedly crossed the border into Syria\u2019s northwestern province of Idlib ahead of a planned deployment of the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA)\u2019s forces in the largely militant-held region. A top FSA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, announced the news on Sunday, a day after Turkish [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[639],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Turkish army&#039;s reconnaissance team crosses into Syria as part of Idlib offensive - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/turkish-armys-reconnaissance-team-crosses-into-syria-as-part-of-idlib-offensive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Turkish army&#039;s reconnaissance team crosses into Syria as part of Idlib offensive - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"madaresharghi A small army reconnaissance team from Turkey has reportedly crossed the border into Syria\u2019s northwestern province of Idlib ahead of a planned deployment of the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA)\u2019s forces in the largely militant-held region. A top FSA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, announced the news on Sunday, a day after Turkish [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/turkish-armys-reconnaissance-team-crosses-into-syria-as-part-of-idlib-offensive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-08T16:47:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/\",\"name\":\"madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments\",\"description\":\"madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/turkish-armys-reconnaissance-team-crosses-into-syria-as-part-of-idlib-offensive\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/turkish-armys-reconnaissance-team-crosses-into-syria-as-part-of-idlib-offensive\/\",\"name\":\"Turkish army&#039;s reconnaissance team crosses into Syria as part of Idlib offensive - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-08T16:47:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-08T16:47:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c52e345120843d5f259215c4e809cdd2\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/turkish-armys-reconnaissance-team-crosses-into-syria-as-part-of-idlib-offensive\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c52e345120843d5f259215c4e809cdd2\",\"name\":\"administrator\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/901309319175b0d219e688b01909d220?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"administrator\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}