Demilitarized zone set For Syria’s IDLIB region
Bussian, Turkish LEADERS ASREE to Establish BUMER
MOSCOW — The leaders of Russia and Turkey agreed Monday to establish a demilitarized zone in Syria’s Idlib region, the last major stronghold of anti-government rebels, where fears had been running high of a devastating offensive by government forces.
The zone will be established by Oct. 15 and will be 9-12 miles deep, with troops from Russia and Turkey conducting coordinated patrols, President Vladimir Putin said at the end of a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi.
The deal effectively delays an offensive by Syria and its Russian and Iranian allies, one that Turkey fears would create a humanitarian crisis near its border.
Putin said “radical militants” would have to withdraw from the zone.
It was not immediately clear exactly how the deal would be implemented.
“I believe that with this agreement we prevented a great humanitarian crisis in Idlib,” Erdogan said at a joint briefing with Putin.
Putin said he believed the agreement could hasten final resolution of Syria’s civil war.
“We agreed that practical implementation of the steps we plan will give a fresh impetus to the process of political settlement of the Syrian conflict and will make it possible to invigorate efforts in the Geneva format and will help restore peace in Syria,” he said.
Asked whether Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government agreed with the Putin-erdogan plan, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told reporters in Sochi that “in the coming hours, we will agree with them on all the positions put forth in this document.”
Ahmed Ramadan, a spokesman for the Syrian political opposition in exile, said the agreement offered Russia a chance to walk back its threat against Idlib.