ALEPPO, Syria — The past few weeks have witnessed unprecedented cooperation and coordination between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions of the armed opposition in northern Syria. This has been in tandem with the threats by the Syrian regime and Russia to attack Idlib.

The FSA has been in ongoing contact with Turkey, and the opposition factions are relied on to stop a possible attack by the regime and its allies in Idlib. In addition, the FSA factions have been preparing for a possible battle, which they believe could be the hardest and perhaps the final confrontation.

The FSA factions held their last meeting Sept. 12, at the invitation of the opposition-affiliated Syrian Interim Government. The National Consultative Conference was held at the government headquarters in the city of Azaz in the northern countryside of Aleppo. The meeting was attended by officials from the local councils in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib, officials from the interim government as well as leaders and officers of the FSA-affiliated national army operating in the Euphrates Shield area in the Aleppo countryside. The head of the interim government, Jawad Abu Hatab, delivered the meeting's closing speech.

On Sept. 5, the interim government held a meeting with a Turkish delegation at its headquarters in the city of Azaz. During the talks, the two sides discussed the situation of the opposition-held areas in Aleppo and Idlib, and actions vis-a-vis the different scenarios that might occur in northern Syria, in the event of an attack by the regime and Russia.