Turkey 'won't allow provocations to damage Idlib deal'

By Tugrul Cam

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey will not allow terrorist provocations to damage the deal to keep the peace in Idlib, Syria, a Turkish official said on Friday.

"The U.S. withdrawal process from Syria should not serve the divisive agenda of the terrorist PYD/YPG. There should not be a fait accompli on the ground," Hami Aksoy, Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters in the capital Ankara.

The remarks came in the wake of a Daesh attack on Wednesday which killed 16 people, including four U.S. soldiers.

Turkish officials said the attack might have been meant to derail the U.S. plan to withdraw from Syria, announced in December after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Following a meeting last September between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two sides agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syria.

Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib are to remain in areas where they are already present, while Russia and Turkey conduct joint patrols in the area to prevent renewed fighting.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The PYD/YPG is its Syrian branch.