ISTANBUL: The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany on Saturday called for a ceasefire around the last major rebel-held bastion of Idlib in Syria to be preserved.

The four nations “stressed the importance of a lasting ceasefire” according to a statement read by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the end of a major summit in Istanbul.

Erdogan, along with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, France’s Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met to try and find a lasting solution to the Syrian conflict, in which more than 360,000 people have been killed since 2011.

After a joint press conference, Macron urged Russia, which supports the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to exercise “very clear pressure” on Damascus for a “stable and lasting ceasefire in Idlib”.

Last month rebel-backer Turkey agreed with Russia to create a buffer zone around Idlib amid fears of a impending assault on the northwestern province that many feared would lead to a humanitarian disaster.

However clashes have continued in Idlib since, and on Friday seven civilians were killed by Syrian regime artillery fire, the highest death toll since the ceasefire was reached.

A joint statement adopted at the end of the summit called for a committee to be established to draft a new Syrian constitution before the end of the year, “paving the way for free and fair elections” in the war-torn country.

The 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.”

It also said that conditions needed to created “throughout the country for the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons”.

“The eyes of the world are on us today... I hope we will act with a sincere and constructive understanding and will not fail to meet their expectations,” Erdogan said as he opened the talks in Istanbul.

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has said that the primary goal would be to “clarify the steps to be taken for a political solution and to determine a roadmap”.

One key objective is to form a committee to draft Syria’s post-war constitution, seen as a stepping stone to 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 is also attending the summit, saying Damascus rejected the UN having a role in the selection process.

Idlib on the edge

With an assault by government troops seeming imminent, Moscow and Ankara agreed on Sept 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.

However shelling in the area continued intermittently and has ramped up in recent days.

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

However France hopes to extend the ceasefire to enable aid convoys to get through to Idlib, home to three million people.

After arriving in Istanbul, Macron tweeted that what was at stake was averting a “new humanitarian disaster”.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2018

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