Turkey Faces Perilous Mission in Northern Syria - And Possible Disaster if it Fails by Erin Cunningham – Washington Post
As the chief backer of Syria’s embattled opposition, Turkey now faces a perilous task. It must disarm its rebel allies in Syria’s Idlib province, under a new agreement with Russia, and eliminate the hardcore jihadists in their midst.
If not, Syrian and allied Russian forces have threatened an all-out assault to retake the territory — a battle that aid agencies say would be the most devastating of the war. The cost to Turkey itself could be immense.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, announced an 11th-hour plan on Sept. 17 to avert the bloodshed, giving Turkey more time to persuade its proxies to disarm. Under the pact, Turkish and Russian troops would patrol a demilitarized zone — about nine to 12 miles deep and free of extremists and heavy weapons — and eventually open Idlib’s highways to traffic.
Idlib’s roughly 3 million residents may have a reprieve, but the fate of the province remains uncertain. It represents the opposition’s final stronghold in Syria after nearly eight years of conflict, and the stakes for Turkey are high because it borders the province and has troops stationed there…