Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Three powers agree on Syria cease-fire, ‘de-escalation zones’
ISTANBUL — Russia, Iran and Turkey said Thursday that they have agreed to create “de-escalation zones” across four areas in Syria, renewing diplomatic efforts to bring warring parties in the country to heel after six years of fighting.
Meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana, the three powers said the cease-fire deal would come into force Saturday and would apply to both government and rebel forces in the designated areas, where the Islamic State does not hold large swaths of territory.
The agreement, signed by all three guarantor countries, said the zones would be demarcated by checkpoints on the ground and that “unarmed civilians” would be able to move freely between governmentand opposition-held territory. Checkpoints would be overseen by the three guarantors but could, “if necessary,” be manned by unspecified “third parties,” it said.
But it was unclear how the deal differed from several previous failed ceasefires in which the Syrian air force continued to bomb rebel-held areas. The agreement said “the parties agreed to take all necessary measures to continue the fight” against designated terrorist groups “within and outside” the zones.
Although Russia and Iran exert influence over Syrian President Bashar Assad — and Turkey is an important backer of the rebels — there were few early signs that either side was committed to the deal.
In Astana, where the three international powers are overseeing peace talks, the announcement caused a ruckus in the rebel delegation, with one top commander shouting, “See you on the battlefield!”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, also said that the Syrian air force stepped up strikes in the proposed de-escalation zones after their locations were revealed in a Russian draft proposal Wednesday.
The U.S. State Department, noting it was “not a direct participant” in the talks, although it sent an official to observe, said it supported “any effort that can genuinely de-escalate the violence in Syria,” ensure humanitarian aid and promote a political resolution to the conflict.
But the statement, by spokeswoman Heather Nauert, said that “we continue to have concerns” about the agreement, “including the involvement of Iran as a so-called ‘guarantor.’ ” She added: “Iran’s activities in Syria have only contributed to the violence, not stopped it, and Iran’s unquestioning support for the Assad regime has perpetuated the misery of ordinary Syrians.”
The cease-fire agreement excludes attacks on al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the group known as the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Front, and the Islamic State. In earlier truces agreed to between the Obama administration and Russia, that exclusion led Russia and Syria to continue bombing rebel and civilian areas, arguing that they were targeting “terrorists.”
“In light of the failures of past agreements,” Nauert’s statement said, “we have reason to be cautious. We expect the regime to stop all attacks on civilians and opposition forces, something they have never done. We expect Russia to ensure regime compliance.”
The White House said this week that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed “safe, or de-escalation, zones” Tuesday. But the Trump administration has not specified publicly what it is willing to support.
According to the Kazakhstan agreement, the proposed safe zones will cover four areas: the northern province of Idlib, where almost a million displaced people are packed among rebel forces dominated by al-Qaida, and some portions of adjoining provinces; eastern Ghouta, a besieged area on the outskirts of Damascus that is the last remaining threat to Assad’s hold on the capital; a similarly besieged district of the government-controlled city of Homs, 100 miles north of Damascus; and a swath of Syria’s southern border with Jordan where the United States is supporting rebel forces against Islamic State militants.