Erdoğan breaching Sochi deal once more

Aya Ezz

Turkey has established a new checkpoint in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, in a move deemed as an extra provocation for Russia.

The area, where the new checkpoint has been set up, is defined as a “buffer zone” in the September 2018 Sochi agreement. This means that none of the countries signing the agreement has the legal right to establish military bases in it.

New breach

This is the 60th checkpoint in the de-escalation region, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is important in that it overlooks large swaths of land in Idlib.

By establishing the new checkpoint, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan steps up his escalation against the Russian government. This is especially true after what is known as Tahrir al-Sham turned down a Turkish injunction for establishing the checkpoint. Tahrir al-Sham rejected the Turkish injunction because it knows that the checkpoint would pit it against Russia.

The construction of the new checkpoint coincides with Turkey’s dispatch of reinforcements into Idlib.

Blackmailing Russia

Political science professor at Cairo University Mohamed Hussein said Erdoğan only wants to put pressure on the United States and blackmail Russia.

“He wants both countries to present financial and logistical support to him,” Hussein told The Reference. “This is especially true with the ongoing deterioration of economic conditions in Turkey and the coronavirus outbreak.”

He said Erdoğan had violated the Sochi agreement more than once in the past with the aim of achieving political goals.

Sorry to say, he said, Russia bows to Erdoğan’s demands every time he breaches the agreement.