Anti-Shi'ism

The United States and the Taliban have agreed to a temporary truce that, if successful, would open the way for a deal that would bring American troops home from Afghanistan and end 18 years of war.

A Syrian opposition group reported on Feb. 14 that they downed a Syrian regime helicopter in a "de-escalation zone" in northwest Syria.

The helicopter was hit directly while flying over the western Aleppo province, in a rural area of Aleppo that falls within the de-escalation zone of the neighboring province of Idlib.

The U.S. special envoy for Syria visited Turkey on Feb. 11 to re-evaluate the recent developments in the region.

Speaking to reporters at Ankara's Esenboğa International Airport, James Jeffrey said Turkey, as a NATO ally, encountered a great threat in Idlib, northwestern Syria, coming from the Assad regime and Russia.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 11 vowed that the Syrian regime, which attacked Turkish troops in northwestern Syria's Idlib province, would pay a "heavy price."

The president also said he would announce a series of new steps on Feb. 12 that Turkey would take against Bashar al-Assad's regime over attacks on Turkish soldiers in Idlib.

James Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for Syria engagement and fight against ISIL, will pay a visit to Turkey on Feb. 12 amid recent escalation in Syria's last rebel bastion of Idlib, a province in the country's northwest.

Turkish hosted a Russian delegation in the capital Ankara on Feb. 8 to discuss the escalating situation in Idlib, northwestern Syria.

According to diplomatic sources, the Turkish and Russia delegations held a three-hour meeting which stressed the need to ensure peace on the ground and discussed steps to boost political process.

Turkey's presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın has said that changing borders of the Idlib de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, as determined by Astana and Sochi agreements, is out of the question.

Speaking at a news conference on Feb. 6, Ibrahim Kalın said it is not possible for Turkey to accept any proposal of change regarding the de-escalation zone.       

An assault on rebel-held northwest Syria by government forces has pushed some 700,000 people to flee toward the Turkish border and raised the specter of an international crisis, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria James Jeffrey said on Jan. 29.   

At least ten civilians were killed when Russian warplanes hit residential areas in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, overnight, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Jan. 30.         

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned Russia that Turkey was running out of patience regarding the continued offensive by the Syrian army in Idlib and will take unilateral actions to stop it if Moscow fails to persuade Bashar al-Assad's regime to cease the military operations in the last rebel-held enclave.