World

Turkey to host four-way Syria summit in Istanbul

October 19, 2018
Pupils gather in front of a classroom at a school in the city of Harim in the rebel-held northern countryside of Syria’s Idlib province in this Oct. 15, 2018 file photo. — AFP
Pupils gather in front of a classroom at a school in the city of Harim in the rebel-held northern countryside of Syria’s Idlib province in this Oct. 15, 2018 file photo. — AFP

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host a summit on the Syria conflict with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France on Oct. 27 in Istanbul, his spokesman said on Friday, the first such gathering with key EU leaders.

The summit will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as French and German leaders Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said, cited by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Turkey, which has supported Syrian rebels, has been working with Syrian regime supporters Russia and Iran on a drive to end the over seven year civil war, in efforts that have often been greeted with suspicion in the West.

Erdogan has on three times attended trilateral summits on Syria with Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. But this is the first time a meeting will bring the Turkish and Russian strongmen together with the EU’s two most significant national leaders.

The meeting will aim to find a “long-lasting solution” to the Syria conflict as well as the situation in the last major Syrian rebel-held bastion of Idlib, Kalin said.

Erdogan had previously planned to host the international summit in September, but it did not take place then. The Kremlin, Elysee and Merkel’s office all also confirmed the date of the Oct. 27 meeting.

The meeting comes after Syrian regime-ally Russia and rebel supporter Turkey announced an agreement on Sept. 17 to create a demilitarized buffer zone ringing the Idlib region, home to three million people.

The deal to create a 15-20 kilometer-wide zone came after a flurry of activity as Turkey sought to avoid an assault by President Bashar Assad’s regime and a further influx of people across its border.

According to the deal, the zone would separate rebel and regime zones under the supervision of the two sponsor countries.

It gave until Oct. 10 for the zone to be cleared of any heavy weapons but the second deadline for the withdrawal of “radical” fighters like Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and other hardliners — was seen as the accord’s real test.

Both Ankara and Moscow said the deal was still on course, despite delays in the pullout of the militants. The deal has received a warm welcome both from Europe and the United States, relieved that more bloodshed has been averted for now.

James Jeffrey, Washington’s special representative on Syria, hailed on Wednesday the Russian-Turkish deal as a “major step” that has frozen the war, after a meeting with Turkish officials in Ankara.

The Kremlin said that the Istanbul summit will include “exchanging views on the Syria issue, including the question of advancing the process of a political settlement as well as further steps in the interest of strengthening security and stability.”

France primarily wants to ensure the Idlib ceasefire is maintained to avert a “humanitarian catastrophe and a new mass wave of refugees,” the Elysee said in a statement.

An Elysee source also warned that Macron would reconsider his plan to attend if any regime assault was launched on Idlib.

Merkel’s spokesperson Martina Fietz said Berlin wanted to work towards a process of stabilization in Syria.

“We expect that we can make progress towards a stabilization in Syria, knowing that this process will be very complicated and will take years.” — AFP


October 19, 2018
150 views
HIGHLIGHTS
World
hour ago

Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

World
hour ago

Jacob Zuma barred from running in South Africa elections

World
4 hours ago

India opposition leader Kejriwal to remain in jail in corruption case