By Tulay Karadeniz

and

Suleiman Al-Khalidi

ANKARA/AMMAN —

Turkey will send more troops into Syria›s Idlib province after striking a deal with Russia that has averted a government offensive and delighted rebels who say it keeps the area out of President Bashar Al-Assad›s hands.

The deal unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad›s most powerful ally, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday will create a new demilitarized zone from which «radical» rebels must withdraw by the middle of next month.

Damascus also welcomed the agreement but vowed to continue its efforts to recover «every inch» of Syria. Iran, Assad›s other main ally, said «responsible diplomacy» had averted a war in Idlib «with a firm commitment to fight extremist terror».

The agreement has put a halt to a threatened Syrian government offensive. The United Nations had warned s

uch an attack would create a humanitarian catastrophe in the Idlib region, home to about 3 million people.

The Idlib region and adjoining territory north of Aleppo represents the opposition›s last big foothold in Syria. Assad has recovered most of the areas once held by the rebels, with decisive military support from Iran and Russia.

But his plans to recover the northwest have been complicated by Turkey›s role on the ground: it has soldiers at 12 locations in Idlib and supplies weapons to some of the rebels.

Erdogan had feared another exodus of refugees to join the 3.5 million already in Turkey, and warned against any attack.

In striking the deal, Russia appears — at least for now — to have put its ties with Turkey ahead of advancing the goal of bringing all Syria back under Assad›s rule. Analysts cautioned that implementation of the deal faced big challenges, notably how to separate militants from other rebels — a goal Ankara has been struggling to achieve for some time.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the «moderate opposition» would keep its weapons and the «region will be cleared of radicals». Turkey would «make additional troop deployments» and its 12 observation posts would remain. — Agencies