Russia, Assad deliver blow to Turkey in Syria

``Government troops, accompanied by Iran-backed Shiite militias and Hezbollah forces, apparently reached the cities of Nubl and Zahraa with the help of heavy Russian airstrikes on Wednesday. The opposition had held these cities since 2012, according to the Institute for the Study of War... As a result, Turkey's policy in Syria of bolstering rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime -- and establishing a "safe zone" for displaced Syrians that might hinder the regime's efforts to take Aleppo -- has been unraveling for months, and now appears to have been defeated entirely.''