Turkey may sell Idlib to Syrian regime, Erdogan confuses judiciary by jailing journalists

 On Saturday morning, the Arab newspapers focused on the situation in Idlid Syrian, and the Turkish situation.

 Al-Arab: Is Turkey selling Idlib to Assad's forces?

Al-Arab newspaper "Turkey has great influence in the Syrian province of Idlib, the last stronghold controlled by the opposition, and the last part of the country not controlled by a foreign country or President Bashar al-Assad, but Turkey's situation was not completely safe all this time.

The residents of Idlib are not comfortable with their current rulers and are protesting against them, but also worry about the government and its allies. "

"Idlib is on the edge of the sword right now, after Turkish forces stopped the Russian and Damascus offensive on the outskirts of the province, where 3 million civilians are trapped with 5,000 jihadists," said Hamish Gordon, associate director of Physicians Under Fire and humanitarian operations adviser.

But Turkey's commitment to Idlib is unclear. Ankara prefers to establish a safe zone through its operation against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast.

Turkey has signed an agreement with Russia to protect the region, but the fate of Idlib appears to be in the wind as Assad's declared and continuing keenness to regain the province.

The people of Idlib are most afraid of Turkey's proposal to accommodate refugees in the north-east of the country after seeking to settle them in Idlib. They fear that Turkey will sign a new agreement to hand over Idlib to Assad's forces.

Rowan Rigoli, director of a Washington-based geopolitical consulting firm, confirms the mistrust, favors a deal involving HTS elements and many Syrians fear that Turkey will hand over Idlib to Assad's forces and Russia soon.

No agreement seems to pass without major risks. When Turkey began the operation against the SDF, they signed an agreement with the Syrian government that allowed Assad's forces into Kurdish-controlled areas.

"From the record of the regime, opponents and those perceived by Assad as anti-regime, such as activists, paramedics, humanitarians and former militants, are always the targets of arrest," said Elizabeth Tsorkov, a fellow at the Institute for Foreign Policy Research.

Al-Bayan: Trump accuses Iran of trying to cover up protests

US President Donald Trump has accused the Iranian government of cutting off the Internet to cover up “death and tragedy” amid a wave of protests in Iran in recent days.

"Iran has become so unstable that the regime has completely shut down the Internet so that the great Iranian people cannot talk about the massive violence that is happening inside the country," Trump wrote on Twitter.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Iranian protesters yesterday to report to the United States any photos and other information documenting the "repression" of protests by the Iranian regime, vowing to punish "abuses".

For its part, the European Union urged Iranian security forces to observe "maximum restraint", saying that "any form of violence is unacceptable", stressing "the need to ensure the right to freedom of expression and assembly."

Al-Arab: Erdogan confuses the judiciary again after sentencing journalists

"The journalism profession has been convicted again," said Emma Sinclair-Webb, director of Human Rights Watch in Turkey, on Thursday, on the basis of maintaining prison sentences for two journalists who worked for an opposition newspaper.

"This flawed decision will remain in history as evidence that the Turkish judicial system is flawed," the organization's director said. A Turkish court maintained jail sentences for former journalists in the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, ignoring the opinion of the appeals court, which overturned a previous ruling.

A lawmaker from Turkey's main opposition party said that the Turkish judiciary upheld the court's verdicts against 12 former employees of the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, despite a ruling by a higher court, which puts the question of the independence of the Turkish judiciary in great doubt.

Sezgin Tanrikulu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) said on Twitter that the court acquitted the 13th defendant, Kadri Gursel, a French editor based on the ruling of the country's highest court.

This decision comes after the Turkish authorities arrested 46 people on charges of promoting "terrorist propaganda" after criticizing the Turkish invasion of northern Syria. The suspects were arrested in the southeastern city of Adana and charged with inciting hatred and insulting the Turkish state.

Observers believe that the recent verdicts against the Turkish journalists as well as the arrest warrants issued against critics of the Turkish military operation reaffirms the firmness of the regime in Ankara to interfere in the judiciary to serve his interests.

Turkey ranks 157th out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders' 2019 press freedom ranking.

(T/S)

ANHA