Erdogan announces Syria summit with Russia, France and Germany for March 5
23 February, 2020
urkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said he'd hold a summit with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany on March 5 to discuss the escalating violence in Syria's last rebel enclave of Idlib.
The announcement comes a day after two EU heavyweights France and Germany called for a four-party summit relating to the Turkish and Russian leaders.
"We should come together on March 5 and discuss these issues," Erdogan said in a televised speech to his party supporters in the western province of Izmir, carrying out a phone call with Russian President Putin, and a teleconference with President French Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday.
Erdogan did not say where the summit would take place but talking with reporters after Friday's prayers, he confirmed that Macron and Merkel proposed a Syria summit in Istanbul and that Putin was yet to respond.
A months-long offensive by Russia-backed Syrian troops against rebels backed by Turkey in northwest Idlib has seen near one million civilians flee the violence.
Macron and Merkel on Friday "expressed their willingness to meet President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan to look for a political solution to the crisis," the German chancellor's office said.
Russia on Wednesday objected to the UN Security Council adopting a statement that could have called for a ceasefire in Idlib, diplomats said, after a tense closed-door meeting.
Turkey has threatened an "imminent" procedure in Idlib following its troops attended under strong fire from regime forces and given Damascus before end of this month to operate a vehicle back from its army positions.
One Turkish soldier died on Saturday in regime fire in Idlib, the defense ministry said earlier.
The Turkish military retaliated and destroyed 21 regime targets following "the despicable attack", it added.
The most recent casualty brings the amount of Turkish personnel killed in clashes this month to 17.
Prior to the attack, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, to discuss ways of finding a remedy to the violence in Idlib, the ministry said.
Ankara has 12 observation posts there as part of a 2018 manage Russia and beefed up its military positions with howitzers, tanks and commandos in recent weeks.
The flurry of diplomatic activity employs the violence in Idlib has prompted an exchange of threats between Ankara and Moscow.
A key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, Russia has accused Ankara of failing woefully to act against "terrorist groups in Idlib," which Turkey denies.
Idlib is held by a range of rebel groups dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group, which is led by members of the country's former al-Qaida franchise.
Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan's top press aide, said on Saturday Russia's support for the Assad regime "worsens the already terrible humanitarian situation," in some messages on Twitter.
Ankara has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe and fears an influx of refugees from Idlib since it is already home to 3.6 million Syrians.
"Nothing could possibly be the justification for driving an incredible number of innocent Syrians out of their homes," he said.
"We've fought very determinedly against terror groups in the region. Russia should not permit the regime to create terror groups a justification for ethnic cleansing."
Erdogan urged Putin in a telephone call Friday to restrain the regime's offensive and said the answer was to come back to the 2018 Sochi agreement targeted at averting a regime assault.
Source: japantoday.com