Four-nation Syria summit urges preservation of Idlib ceasefire

ISTANBUL — The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany on Saturday called for a fragile ceasefire to be preserved in Syria's last major rebel-held bastion of Idlib, following a major summit aimed at finding a political solution to the country's devastating seven-year civil war.

In a joint statement adopted at the end of the talks in Istanbul, the four nations "stressed the importance of a lasting ceasefire, while underlining the necessity to continue to fight against terrorism".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan read the statement, which hailed "progress" following a deal last month between Syrian-regime supporter Russia and rebel-backer Turkey to create a buffer zone around the north-western province of Idlib.

Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, France's Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for extended talks on the Syrian conflict, in which more than 360,000 people have been killed since 2011.

The statement also called for a committee to be established to draft Syria's post-war constitution before the end of the year, "paving the way for free and fair elections" in the war-torn country.

A rival United Nations plan for a committee to write the constitution ran aground this week, with UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, who attended the summit, saying Damascus rejected the UN having a role in the selection process.

The four leaders in Istanbul vowed to work "together in order to create conditions for peace and stability in Syria" and "encourage a political solution and strengthen international consensus".

Idlib violence escalates

The summit's statement also spoke of "the need to ensure humanitarian organisations' rapid, safe and unhindered access throughout Syria and immediate humanitarian assistance to reach all people in need".

The summit addressed the plight of the millions displaced by the grinding conflict, saying that conditions needed to be created "throughout the country for the safe and voluntary return of refugees".

The talks came after a week of escalating violence in Idlib culminated in Syrian regime artillery fire killing seven civilians on Friday, the highest death toll there since the fragile ceasefire began last month.

Following the joint press conference in Istanbul, Macron urged Russia to pressure the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to bring about a “stable and lasting ceasefire in Idlib”.

“We rely on Russia to exercise very clear pressure on the regime which depends on it for survival,” he said.

However, Putin warned that if “radicals” were to “launch armed provocations from the Idlib zone, Russia reserves the right to give active assistance to the Syrian government in liquidating this source of terrorist threat”.

Challenge is to end two wars

Merkel, meanwhile, said that the leaders “have the duty to prevent another humanitarian disaster”.

“The challenge is to end two wars: The war against terror and the war of the regime against large parts of its own population,” she said.

“We must advance with the political process at the end of which there must be free elections open to all Syrians — including those in the diaspora.”

Erdogan, a vocal opponent of Assad, said that Syrians “inside and outside” the country will decide the president’s fate.

Aid groups have warned that a government military offensive in Idlib, home to three million people, could spark one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the seven-year war.

With an assault by government troops seeming imminent, Moscow and Ankara agreed on September 17 to create a 15-20 kilometre-wide demilitarised zone ringing Idlib as Turkey sought to avoid an attack leading to a further influx of people across its border.

On Friday, Syria’s UN envoy Bashar Jaafari maintained that the buffer zone is temporary and that Idlib would eventually revert to government control.

Turkey and Russia have held several talks with Iran on the Syrian conflict in efforts that have often been greeted with suspicion in the West, but Saturday’s summit was the first to include the EU’s two most significant national leaders.

Syria’s opposition, which has previously described Russia’s military intervention in 2015 as an occupation, on Friday said it welcomed dialogue with Moscow.

However, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told a security conference in Bahrain that Russia was no replacement for the United States.

“Russia’s presence in the region cannot replace the longstanding, enduring, and transparent US commitment to the Middle East,” Mattis said.