Turkish military sources deny the Russian allegations of opening crossings between the Liberated and the Assad regime areas
Turkish military sources denied media reports claiming that “an agreement has been reached to reopen 3 crossings in the Idlib and Aleppo governorates in northern Syria to the areas controlled by the Assad regime forces.”
The Turkish Anadolu Agency quoted the sources, which it did not name, that the allegations that spoke of “reaching an agreement with the Turkish side” regarding the opening of 3 crossings in Idlib and Aleppo do not reflect the truth, and stated that on February 1, Russia offered to form a commercial crossing for residents to use. The area through the opening of the Abu Zendin, Saraqib and Miznaz crossings.
The Anadolu Agency stated that the Abu Zendin crossing, located in the area of Operation Euphrates Shield, was basically closed since the implementation of Operation Spring Shield until today. It said that the Saraqib crossing was planned to open on April 18, 2020, and Miznaz crossing on the 30th of the same month, but that was not It is achieved due to the protests of the people against the Assad regime.
The Agency noted that Russia announced on February 22 the opening of the crossings unilaterally, and it remained open until the 24th of the same month, but this period did not witness any request to cross from the de-escalation zone in Idlib and the Euphrates Shield Operation area to the regime-controlled area.
The military sources confirmed that the crossing corridors that were opened in earlier times in the region did not witness heavy use either, and stressed that the people of the region could not feel safe in light of the continued air strikes and the regime’s attacks on Idlib and the attacks of the Syrian Democratic Forces through harassment, infiltration attempts and car bombs, On the areas of the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations, starting from the Tal Rifaat and Manbij regions.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had reached an agreement with the Turkish side to reopen 3 crossings in the Idlib and Aleppo regions in northern Syria, after days of air and missile escalation in the region.
