Russia, Iran, Turkey agree to create Syrian safe zones
Prospects for plan’s success appear bleak as rebels leave talks over Iran’s participation
BEIRUT— Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish “de-escalation zones” in Syria, signing on to a Russian plan under which Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air force would halt flights over designated areas across the war-torn country.
The agreement, which a Russian delegate said would go into effect on Saturday, is the latest attempt to reduce violence in the Arab country. But the full details of the proposal were not made available and prospects for its success appeared bleak.
As officials from the three countries — Russia, Iran and Turkey — that back rival sides in the conflict signed the agreement at Syria talks in Kazakhstan on Thursday, some members of the Syrian opposition delegation shouted in protest and walked out of the conference room in Astana, the Kazakh capital.
The opposition is protesting Iran’s participation at the conference and role as a guarantor of the agreement, accusing it of fuelling the sectarian nature of the conflict that has killed some 400,000 people and displaced half the country’s population.
“Iran is a country that is killing the Syrian people and the killer cannot be the rescuer,” said Abu Osama Golani, a rebel commander who attended the gathering in Astana.
The walkout and the comments underline the huge difficulties of implementing such a deal. The Syrian government has said that although it will abide by the agreement, it would continue fighting “terrorism” wherever it exists, parlance for most armed rebel groups fighting government troops.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the United States has “reason to be cautious” about the chances for success of the deal, though it appreciates the efforts by Russia and Turkey to help lower violence in Syria. She added that U.S. has concerns, including about Iran’s guarantor role in the deal.
Although the U.S. was represented at the talks in Kazakhstan, Nauert said it was neither a “direct participant” nor a party to the agreement.
Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope the Syrian government and rebels would adopt this latest proposal to “de-escalate” the conflict. Putin said Russian and Syrian government jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the ceasefire.