In northern Syria ... why the armistice does not hold?

Maan al-Khidr-Gaziantep (Syrian-Turkish border)

Violations of the armistice agreements between the two sides in the clashes in northwestern Syria have become frequent, with each party holding the other responsible for it, according to activists.

The Response Coordinators Working in Northern Syria organization announced that 121 sites have been attacked by Russian forces and the regime since Ankara and Moscow announced a ceasefire on January 14.

On the other hand, the head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, Major-General Yuri Bornkov, says that the opposition fighters "who violated the ceasefire more than seventy times during the same period."

Opposition sources told Al-Jazeera Net that several meetings were held by Turkish officials with leaders of the armed opposition, after the escalation of the opposition's areas of northwestern Syria continued. The last of these meetings was last Thursday and was attended by the leaders of most of the opposition factions.

The sources pointed out that the Turks conveyed to the opposition three points that the Russians insist in negotiations on the fate of Idlib, namely, "the introduction of the entire Syrian regime institutions into the region and it is responsible for its management, and the dismantling of all the opposition factions completely while giving those who wish to lay down arms a guarantee and not to prosecute them legally."

The sources pointed out that the Turkish officials "are convinced of the current situation with the desire of Moscow and the regime to military escalation to impose a fait accompli in the region, considering that it is not possible to overlook the presence of the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham classified as terrorist lists, hegemonic forces in the region."

The sources added that Ankara "confirmed its support for the opposition and called on it to prepare to face the Russian-Syrian military campaign against its regions."

Born dead
For its part, the Syrian armed opposition considers any understanding of a cease-fire "dead at the moment of its birth," due to the intentions of the Russians and the regime regarding seeking to impose military solutions.

Captain Naji Mustafa, spokesman for the National Liberation Front (a coalition that includes most of the opposition factions in the northwestern region of Syria), said that they "announced the general mobilization and intensified their training and equipment in preparation for a Russian and Syrian military attack expected in their areas of control in rural Aleppo and Idlib."

On the reason the opposition agreed to the armistice agreements and does not trust them, Captain Mustafa refused to answer a question for Al Jazeera Net.

Farqan
For his part, Saeed al-Haj, a specialist in Turkish affairs, believes that there are "two differences in the context of Ankara's handling of the recent escalation of the Moscow-Damascus alliance in northwestern Syria."

It is considered that Ankara blamed the Moscow for the continued escalation and lack of commitment to the understanding of the ceasefire signed between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian Vladimir Putin.

The second difference - according to Al-Hajj - is to give Ankara the green light for the opposition to repel the attacks and move in the field with a higher ceiling in the confrontation.

Al-Hajj adds that the context of the Libyan crisis "also affected what is going on in Idlib, because the two files have become on the table of Putin and Erdogan in light of intersecting interests between the two parties with differences in the strategy of each party, and the heat of developments in Libya will necessarily reflect on the emergence of differences on the ground between countries and those who support them From the forces of war in northwestern Syria. "