Turkey Withdrawing From Three Bases in Northern Syria

Troops will re-position into rebel-held areas in Idlib

Continuing to shift away from difficult to hold military outposts in northern Syria, Turkey started evacuating three bases on Wednesday, including sites in Idlib and Aleppo Provinces.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the troops from the three bases are relocating into the Zawiya Mountain area in a rebel-held part of southern Idlib. Turkey has considered controlling what the rebels have left in Idlib a top priority.

Turkey has been moving away from some of the bases in areas lost by the rebels for months, redeploying to areas in their possession. This has come with complaints about the deal with Russia over Idlib, which has mostly collapsed.

Splitting Idlib between Syrian forces and Turkish rebels did not hold, as the al-Qaeda faction started taking from the rebels, then lost substantial territory to Syria, which they have no intention of turning over to the rebels.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.