Turkey questions why Russia didn't prevent Idlib attack
The Syrian airstrike this week against a Turkish military convoy in Idlib has prompted speculation that Russia and Syria are cooperating at Turkey's expense.
At 8:55 a.m. Aug. 19, a Syrian Su-22 fighter jet attacked a pickup truck of Faylaq al-Sham, a Free Syrian Army faction that Russia describes as a terror outfit. The vehicle was part of a Turkish convoy en route to reinforce the No. 9 Morek observation post in the rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib. Turkey's Defense Ministry said in a statement later that day that it had notified Russian authorities about the Turkish convoy before it began its journey at 5:30 a.m. Nevertheless, the convoy was struck.
Turkey's statement points out that Russia turned a blind eye to the attack that killed three people and wounded others, including a Turkish soldier. Currently, Ankara is trying to determine whether Russia's failure to stop the airstrike was negligent or intentional. The question everyone in Ankara is asking right now is: Are Turkish-Russian relations heading toward a messy divorce?
According to sources in Ankara, Turkish national intelligence chief Hakan Fidan and presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin traveled hastily and secretly to Moscow the night of Aug. 20 and met with their Russian and Syrian counterparts. These meetings have not been officially confirmed yet.
For the past six months, Moscow had argued that Turkey wasn't keeping the promises it had made during cease-fire negotiations. These promises included relaunching the M5 highway linking Idlib to Hama and the M4 connecting Aleppo to Damascus, clearing terror outfits from the demilitarized zone and having rebels surrender their heavy weaponry to Russian authorities.
