What is happening on the Western Front?

The cooperation between Moscow and Ankara, which continued without problems for three years in the north-west of Syria, was instantly replaced by bombing and fierce shooting. A Russian-backed Syrian government army launched an attack on the strategically important city of Idlib, more than three years controlled by radical terrorist groups. Because of the shelling the Turkish convoy a few days earlier, some civilians were injured and killed.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense drew attention to the fact that the events "are not consistent with the agreements reached with Russia." After meeting with his French counterpart Macron, President Putin stated that "terrorist groups entrenched in Idlib are constantly bombarding a Russian air base located near the region, and some of them are trying to infiltrate other countries, so the operations will be uncompromising." The statement by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was sustained in equally harsh colors.

The semi-diplomatic and semi-threatening statement of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was more addressed to Moscow and Tehran than Syria: "Since the regime does not believe in a political solution to the problem, he began to use all the possibilities for a military solution. The regime"s patrons are Russia and Iran. In particular, the Russians are wrong when they say, "From there a disturbing shelling is being conducted." Noting that Ankara keeps all communication channels with Russia open, Mr. Cavusoglu emphasizes that, if necessary, President Erdogan can again discuss this issue with President Putin.

However, if the problem could be resolved through political and diplomatic negotiations, why did one have to resort to military operations to cleanse Idlib? Minister Cavusoglu is also against the start of military operations "on the eve of the introduction of the Syrian Constitution for discussion" and considers it necessary to recall the Astana process again.

Again, it is not clear: when did Turkey join the "development of a new Syrian constitution" and participate in its discussion? Since September last year, Russia has been putting pressure on Turkey to clean up Idlib. For Moscow knows well that more than half of the 60 thousand terrorists in the region are Chechens, and it considers their complete destruction to be its main task.

Involuntarily the question arises: "What is Turkey planning to do if the Russian-backed Syrian army does not stop military operations in Idlib?" Mr.Cavusoglu speaks of "the toughest measures". Will not all efforts be futile if the continuation of hostilities in the region also leads to the loss of the Turkish observation posts there? Can the continuation of the purge by the Syrian army in Idlib and its environs cause a confrontation between Russia and Turkey?

What an irony: until yesterday, Moscow tried to push Ankara and Washington on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, but today Turkey and Russia face the danger of a clash on the western bank of the Euphrates. If further negative developments are not prevented, will the violation of Ankara"s plans related to the region become inevitable? Paradoxically, everything changed after the S-400 missiles were delivered to Ankara 1.5 months ago.

At a time when Turkey, rightly considering terrorist Kurdish groups on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, could not agree to the military-political and diplomatic support of the United States, these two old NATO allies decided to establish a joint Operations Center in Sanliurfa with the aim of create a "security zone" on the other side of the border.

Just after that, military operations against terrorist groups in Idlib intensified. Could this situation affect the fate of Turkish control over the western bank of the Euphrates?

Again, Russia is in the position of a closed country. However, from an opposite direction...