Putin, Erdogan laud ‘significant decrease’ of tensions in Syria’s Idlib

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have hailed the “significant decrease” of tensions in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, a week after the two leaders announced a ceasefire in the area.

Thursday’s phone call between the two leaders followed their March 5 meeting in Moscow that yielded a ceasefire in Idlib after over four months of fighting between Russia-backed Syrian regime forces and rebels, and recently between regime and Turkish forces.

The two leaders “reaffirmed the importance of continued close joint efforts, first of all between the Russian and Turkish defense ministries, in order to ensure a stable ceasefire and further stabilization of the situation,” according to a post-meeting statement from the Kremlin.

Despite small-scale clashes, last week’s ceasefire managed to bring a rare calm to the embattled northwest Syrian province. Scores of fighters from both sides were killed in the weeks leading up to the ceasefire, including nearly 60 soldiers – to which Ankara responded with the deployment of thousands more troops to Idlib to conduct attacks against Syrian regime forces.

Praise of calm was tempered by Erdogan’s call on the Kremlin to take action against “small incidents” in violation of the ceasefire, or else Ankara will not “hesitate to take the necessary steps against them.”

Erdogan’s claim of ceasefire violations was denied by the Russian military, reported AFP.

The ceasefire seeks the suspension of clashes in Idlib and other surrounding areas, the conduct of joint patrols on the strategic cross-country M4 highway, and establishment of a “safe corridor” 6 km north and south of the M4.

A Russian military delegation has been in meetings with Turkish military officials in Ankara for the past three days to agree on further ceasefire details, the Turkish defense ministry said on Thursday, with talks set to continue tomorrow.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has been monitoring the ceasefire implementation, and has reported a number of violations by both regime and pro-Turkey forces.

The Britain-based war monitor said on Thursday that “regime forces and loyalists advanced further into the southern countryside of Idlib,” taking control of two territories. These advances followed gains made by regime forces two days after the ceasefire’s announcement, SOHR added.

The monitor also reported the death of a young man at the hands of Turkish forces in Idlib while trying to cross the Syria-Turkey border.

Erupting in 2011, Syria’s civil war has claimed the lives of at least 380,000 people and displaced millions more.

Backed by Russian air power, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces launched an extensive offensive against pro-Turkey rebels and their allied jihadists in Idlib and Aleppo provinces in December, retaking more than a hundred towns and villages it lost to them since 2011.

Putin, Erdogan laud ‘significant decrease’ of tensions in Syria’s Idlib

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