Turkey, which is badly pressed to fulfill the commitments it made to Russia during the Sochi negotiations on Syria, and to the local opposition to the Syrian regime, which it promised to protect at Idlib, is now trying to find a way to extricate itself from being stuck between Russia and the Syrian rebels.
When Turkey’s campaign to create a buffer zone east of the Euphrates River did not work out, Russia succeeded in dragging Turkey back to the Idlib agenda. On March 3-4, Russia and Turkey signed a new accord to follow up on the issues discussed during the Iran, Russia and Turkey summit Feb. 14 in Sochi.