Turkey, which is badly pressed to fulfill the commitments it made to Russia during the Sochi negotiations on Syria, and to the local opposition to the Syrian regime, which it promised to protect at Idlib, is now trying to find a way to extricate itself from being stuck between Russia and the Syrian rebels.

When Turkey’s campaign to create a buffer zone east of the Euphrates River did not work out, Russia succeeded in dragging Turkey back to the Idlib agenda. On March 3-4, Russia and Turkey signed a new accord to follow up on the issues discussed during the Iran, Russia and Turkey summit Feb. 14 in Sochi.

The new text introduced some interesting points. On March 8, Russian forces patrolled on one side of the buffer boundary as Turkish troops patrolled the other.

Turkish troops accompanied by militants of the Muslim Brotherhood-associated Failaq al-Sham patrolled at Kfar Lusin and Dana, north of Idlib; Atarib, west of Aleppo; and Kammari, Karater and Al Iss, southwest of Aleppo. When Turkish troops were deployed south of Aleppo to work on reopening the Aleppo-Damascus highway, it attracted attention. Of course, one swift move was not enough to open the road. Russia reported that the air base in Khmeimim, Syria, where its aerial assets are stationed, was attacked by drones and said it counterattacked the arms arsenals of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on March 13 in coordination with Turkey. Turkish military sources, however, denied any collaboration.