"
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
made an indirect contribution in providing the truce," sources from the Foreign Ministry told the Hurriyet Daily News on Aug. 12, noting that Ankara would continue any efforts for truce in Syria.
The cease-fire halted fighting between gunnies on the one hand and the army and its Hezbollah allies on the other, in the rebel-held town of Zabadani and in a pair of Shiite villages in Syria's Idlib province. The two areas are strongholds of each side under ferocious attack by the other, meaning both could benefit from a cease-fire by evacuating civilians or combatants.
Officials close to Damascus described the truce as the result of mediation by Turkey, which backs rebels fighting against
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
, and Iran, whose support has been vital to his survival, Rooters reported earlier on Aug. 12.
Sources on both sides of the civil war told Rooters earlier on Aug. 12 that the truce was to begin at 6 a.m. and that negotiations would continue. The rebel group Ahrar al-Sham
...a Syria jihadi group made up of Islamists and salafists, not that there's that much difference, formed into a brigade. They make up the main element of the Islamic Front but they don't profess adoration of al-Qaeda and they've been fighting (mainly for survival) against the Islamic State. Their leadership was wiped out at a single blow by a suicide kaboom at a crowded basement meeting in September, 2014...
had led the talks on the hard boys' side.
"A cease-fire began at 6 a.m. today for 48 hours to halt military operations in Zabadani," Hezbollah's al-Manar TV reported. "It also includes the two villages of al-Foua and Kefraya in the Idlib countryside."
Zabadani, has been the focus of a weeks-long offensive by the army and Hezbollah aimed at wresting control of the town from rebels.
The two Shiite villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, meanwhile, have been targeted in a parallel offensive by an hard boy alliance that includes the Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front, both of which are turban jihadist organizations.
A source close to the negotiations from the hard boys' side earlier told Rooters: "The cease-fire has been agreed on but there are other points and negotiations are continuing on them." The source added that ongoing talks were focused on an evacuation of rebel fighters from Zabadani, and an evacuation of civilians from the two villages.