Turkey working with Russia on Idlib disarmament zone – Erdogan spokesman

Turkey is working with Russia on how a dimilitarised zone inside Syria's Idlib will be set up and how terror groups will be driven out, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in the capital Ankara, he said Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, the Turkish Armed Forces, and special forces are working in coordination with Russia in the field.

His remarks came after Monday's landmark agreement between Turkey and Russia to establish a disarmament zone of 15-20 kilometers in Idlib, Syria’s last opposition stronghold, following a meeting in Sochi between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Manbij roadmap

Kalin also said that Turkey expects the Manbij roadmap with the US to be implemented as planned, with no delays.

"The Manbij roadmap is an important deal. We will stick to this and will do what is necessary."

"But, simultaneously, the US administration continuing to engage with the YPG and PYD is a source of serious concern to us," he added.

TRT World's defence analyst Oubai Shahbandar discusses the joint training and patrols by Turkish and US military officers in the strategic city of Manbij as part of a wider agreement.

Concerns over US support to YPG

The Manbij deal between Turkey and the US focuses on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terrorist group from the city in order to stabilise the region.

Washington has claimed the YPG is a "reliable ally" in the fight against Daesh, while Ankara has pointed to its status as an offshoot of the PKK, a recognised terrorist group which has taken some 40,000 lives in Turkey.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on protesters.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.