Russia, Turkey, Iran to set up safe zones in Syria, but U.S. not party to agreement
BEIRUT — A deal hammered out by Russia, Turkey and Iran to set up “de-escalation zones” in mostly opposition-held parts of Syria is the latest international attempt to reduce violence in the war-ravaged country. The plan, though vague on specifics, for the first time envisages armed foreign monitors on the ground in Syria.
The United States is not party to the agreement and no Syrian opposition groups have signed on to the deal, which is supposed to go into effect at midnight Friday.
In the tangled mess that constitutes Syria’s battlefields, there is much that can go wrong with the plan, agreed on in talks Thursday.
As in previous deals struck by foreign backers of the warring sides in Syria, there is no clear mechanism to resolve conflicts and violations.
Russian officials said it will be at least another month until the details are worked out and the safe areas established.
A potential complication to implementing the plan is the crowded airspace over Syria. The deal calls for all aircraft to be banned from flying over the safe zones.
Syrian, Russian, Turkish and U.S.-led coalition aircraft operate in Syria. It is not yet clear how the new plan would affect flight paths of U.S.-led coalition warplanes battling Islamic State militants and other radical groups — and whether U.S. air forces would abide by a diminished airspace.
Russia and Iran — two of the plan’s three sponsors — are key allies of President Bashar Assad’s government and both are viewed as foreign occupation forces by his opponents. Rebels fighting to topple Assad are enraged by Iran’s role in the deal.
Turkey, the third sponsor, is a major backer of opposition factions and has also sent troops into northern Syria, drawing the ire of Assad and his government.
Yet troops from the three countries are now expected to secure four safe zones. An official with Russia’s military general staff said other countries may eventually have a role in enforcing the de-escalation areas.
The “de-escalation zones” will be closed to military aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition, the Russian official who signed the agreement, Alexander Lavrentye, said Friday. Under the plan, Assad’s air force — and presumably Russian, too — would also halt flights over those areas.
In rebel-held Idlib, a protest was held Friday against the plan, denounced as a plot to “divide Syria.”