Publication

This report argues that signs point to an imminent Syrian regime offensive to recapture Idlib, Syria’s largest remaining rebel stronghold. The Idlib region is home to nearly three million people, around a third of whom have been displaced from war zones elsewhere in Syria. In the event of an assault, these people would have nowhere to flee, meaning an offensive could create another humanitarian crisis. To avoid such an outcome, the text’s authors recommend 1) that Turkey and Europe should inform Russia that an assault would undermine its political objectives in Syria; and 2) that Russia, Iran and Turkey should convene talks to extend the existing truce and to seek other ways of removing Idlib’s hardline jihadists.