Syrians in rebel enclave protest Turkey-Syria contacts

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — Thousands of Syrians have held protests in different parts of the rebel-held northwest against recent moves by the governments in Damascus and Ankara to improve ties. Friday’s protests in parts of Idlib and Aleppo provinces came a week after the Turkish, Syrian and Russian defense ministers held previously unannounced talks in Moscow in the first such meeting between rivals Turkey and Syria since the start of the Syrian conflict 11 years ago. Turkey has been a main backer of insurgents fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces presidential and parliamentary elections in June and is under intense pressure at home to send Syrian war refugees back to Syria.