Iran Press/Middle East: Howitzers deployed in the area-of-operations of Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield shelled the People's Protection Units (YPG) positions in Tal Rifaat, located just east of Afrin.
According to Anadolu Agency, for the last three years, Tal Rifaat has been controlled by the YPG.
The strike happened while, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Moscow.
Turkish President is in Moscow as tensions mount over the future of Syria – the Kurdish-held north and Idlib in particular.
Erdogan’s office described it as a “working visit.”
Turkey is trying to expand its control in northern Syria, hoping to benefit as the United States pulls its forces out of Kurdish-held territory.
Moscow, however, wants to see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government return to the roughly a third of the country that is being secured and administered by a Kurdish-Arabic alliance.
In Idlib province, one of the last areas held by Syrian opposition groups, Russia and Turkey are the guarantors of a ceasefire. Russia is a backer of Syrian President and Turkey is supporting rebel groups.
On Oct. 08, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said that Russia and Turkey determined the borders of the demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib.
Recently, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that only the Syrian people can decide the future of their country, stressing the fact that the US behavior towards Idlib indicates that it wants to protect Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist outfit.
Hundreds of terrorists and their families were recently evacuated from southern Syria and lodged in the northwest of the country, in Idlib province. 101/201
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