Turkey’s de-escalation efforts around Idlib come with risks

Source:al Monitor Date:22May2018

Although the media haven’t said much about these observation posts, it is possible to say that they actually constitute a cross-border operation with even more ambiguities than Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations. Six of the 12 outposts are 35 kilometers (almost 22 miles) or more from Turkey’s border. The most distant one is 88 kilometers (55 miles) away. These outposts each have the manpower of only one military company, and so will have limited capability to resist if attacked. Bearing in mind that Turkey doesn’t have air superiority in the region, it won’t be easy to reinforce these scattered outposts from the air and ground, or to evacuate them.