The Battle for Idlib: Did Erdogan Capitulate to Putin in Moscow?

Did Russia grant Turkey a quasi-permanent occupation zone inside of Syria in exchange for a broader troop withdrawal from Idlib?

Phil Barbelé
By Phil Barbelé
Turkey Syria Feature photo

There was a celebration in Syria when Russia announced a ceasefire agreement with Turkey on March 3 following a six-hour meeting between Presidents Erdogan and Putin in Moscow. Under the agreement, Erdogan agreed to pull back Turkish forces and not to contest territory that Syria had recently reclaimed from terrorist groups in eastern Aleppo and

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The New Idlib Ceasefire Forces Turkey-Backed Extremists to Fall Back

Putin and Erdoğan met in Moscow in a last-ditch effort to strike a deal over the escalating violence in Idlib, Syria. Steven Sahiounie weighs in on who prevailed and what likely comes next.

Steven Sahiounie
By Steven Sahiounie
Idlib Syria Feature photo

Mideast Discourse — Turkey increased its military invasion of Syria last month to prevent the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) from liberating Idlib province from the occupation of terrorists, who are supported by Turkey and had been supported by the US before 2017 when President Trump cut off their funding through the CIA. The invasion of thousands of

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France’s Fingerprints Are All Over Terrorist Groups in Idlib Syria

France’s support for extremist groups in Syria, particularly near Idlib, dates back to the earliest days of the 2011 CIA-backed anti-government rebellion.

Steven Sahiounie
By Steven Sahiounie
Syria Idlib Feature photo

Mideast Discourse -- FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr, a specialist in jihadist networks, recently spoke via Skype with French recruiter Omar Omsen, the head of the jihadist group Furkat-al-Ghuraba, an Al Qaeda affiliate in Idlib. There are numerous French terrorists in Idlib today, fighting to establish an Islamic state out of a small piece of secular

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In the Western Media Narrative, SAA-Targeted Underground Bunkers and Terrorist-Run Prisons Become “Hospitals”

We should not allow ourselves to be collectively hypnotized into believing the media hype that would portray armed-group murderers as heroes, and the Syrian people and government struggling to expel them from their country as the villains.

Vanessa Beeley
By Vanessa Beeley
White Helmets

IDLIB PROVINCE, SYRIA (Report) -- In recently liberated Qalaat Al Madiq -- 500 meters from As Suqaylabiyah, a predominantly Christian town near Syria’s embattled Idlib province -- the White Helmets, a controversial rescue group financed primarily by the U.K. Foreign Office, was found to have an established presence in a network of tunnels. The

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Sky News and the Western Press Have Once Again Failed Syria

By whitewashing the role of the Idlib mercenaries and extremist groups, the Western press acts as de facto protection racketeers for the very forces exploiting civilians as human shields in Idlib and preventing their exodus via the Russian/Syrian-established humanitarian corridors.

Vanessa Beeley
By Vanessa Beeley
Idlib Syria Media

Recent storylines from the Western press on the “Idlib” narrative, particularly the extraordinary spate of “on-the-ground” reports from Sky News reporter Alex Crawford, have failed to paint an accurate picture of the reality faced by Syrian civilians. Brett McGurk – the U.S. government’s Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to

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As Suqaylabiyah: The Syrian Christian Town Near Idlib the West Has Never Heard Of

Vanessa Beeley reports from the town of As Suqaylabiyah, Syria – a Christian enclave under attack from Al Qaeda affiliated militants in the nearby Idlib province.

Vanessa Beeley
By Vanessa Beeley
Syria War Diary | As Suqaylabiyah

On the 12th of May, 2019, Jaish Al Izza -- an armed affiliate of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) -- an Al Qaeda rebrand that controls the majority of Idlib province and Northern Hama -- targeted the Syrian Christian town of As Suqaylabiyah, situated on the border of terrorist-held areas. The attacks came just after the Syrian Arab Army liberation of

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