General Ahmet Yavuz: "Turkey undertook a very big responsibility o n September 17 in Sochi"

- After the September 7 summit in Tehran, everyone was waiting for the military operation in Idlib to be carried out by the Syrian army with Russia"s support ... and on September 17 Putin and Erdogan agreed to establish a demilitarized zone there! How do you assess this?

-The main issue attracting attention is the close cooperation of Turkey and Russia in solving regional problems. Turkey does not want a military operation in Idlib, primarily because the flood of refugees from there would create additional difficulties for it. The groups that settled in Idlib are very difficult to differentiate. Therefore, despite the agreement between Turkey and Russia reached in Sochi on September 17, the issue of how to clean Idlib from terrorists is still uncertain. And at present it is impossible to predict this, and only measures that will be taken in the coming days will clarify the situation.

"For the first time, a specific deadline has been set for the creation of a demilitarized zone: by October 10 all heavy weapons must be withdrawn from. Do you think that Turkey is not given much time for such laborious work?

- On September 17, Turkey undertook a very great responsibility, because despite the creation of 12 observation stations by Turkey there, the "Astana process" that began in January 2017 somewhat delayed the work on cleansing the region of terrorists. And in the Sochi agreement everything is according to specific dates. And in the coming days we will see how the new process is moving forward. We want Turkey to successfully resolve this issue, because in case of failure, military operations to clear the region from the militants will be inevitable, and Turkey will face a new influx of refugees.

-How will Turkey's and Russia's cooperation in the region affect the political processes in Syria? After all, according to the Russian side, Turkey does not want to include articles on its "secularity" in the new constitution of Syria ...

"However much we like it, new regions will emerge in Syria. The threat to Turkey is stronger on the right bank of the Euphrates River. This is the main reason for the desire to control such regions in the north-west of Syria, like Artvin, Jerbalus and Idlib. Ankara needs to establish in one form or another a dialogue with Syria and to prevent the creation of new administrative structures in its border zone. That is, for us the most important is that alongside our borders, instead of PYD / YPG (the "Party of the Democratic Union" / "People's Self-Defense Forces" - the military wing of PYD) were the state structures of Syria. A similar situation took place in Iraq: as you know, as soon as the Kurds held a referendum to establish independence in September 2017, the government of Baghdad immediately interfered in the processes and established its authority in the regions bordering Turkey. The same policy Turkey should pursue in Syria.

- If Turkey cannot timely fulfill the obligations undertaken on September 17 in Sochi, how can this affect the prospects for Russian-Turkish relations? Do not forget that the Russian press sometimes represents Turkey as the "patron" of some groups in Idlib.

"From the point of view of Syria and Russia, the creation in the next 20-25 days in Idlib of a demilitarized zone with a depth of 15-20 kilometers along the line of contact of the armed opposition with government troops is very important. For the creation of this zone will be to some extent safe in the presence of the Syrian army and Russian military bases there.

The development of the situation shows that the process of cleaning Idlib from terrorist groups is irreversible. Turkey must fulfill the heavy responsibility that fell on it. Now Russia and Turkey are very much in need of each other in the region. And so, if these processes do not seriously harm Ankara's and Moscow's cooperation in the region, then in the future it can intensify.