Deal signed to create Syria ‘safe zones’
LEBANON: Turkey, Russia and Iran, the main sponsors of the Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan, signed a deal yesterday to create ‘‘safe zones’’ inside the war-torn country in one of the most concrete steps yet to ending the conflict.
Ankara, chief backer of the Syrian opposition, Moscow and Tehran, which provide military support for Bashar al-Assad’s government, agreed to establish four ‘‘deconfliction zones’’ to be monitored by international troops.
Parts of the rebel delegation, which is not a signatory, stormed out as the document was being signed in the Kazakh capital Astana.
‘‘We are against the division of Syria,’’ said opposition delegate Osama Abu Zaid. ‘‘As for the agreements, we are not a party to that agreement and, of course, we will never be in favour [of it] as long as Iran is called a guarantor state.’’
The rebels see Iran, a Shiamajority country, as responsible for stoking the sectarian nature of the war.
The deal, which is due to be implemented this weekend, will see the use of all weapons banned and flights grounded.
It will cover four of the country’s most contested areas: Idlib province, largely controlled by jihadist and other rebel groups; Eastern Ghouta, a Damascus suburb besieged by government forces; a pocket north of the central city of Homs; and southern Syria along the Jordanian border.
Islamic State and formerly alQaeda-aligned Hayat Tahrir alSham are excluded from the agreement. This means regime forces can continue to target the groups’ militants.
Turkey has spent months securing a buffer along its border with Syria, in the hope of creating de facto safe areas to which refugees can return. Recep Tayyip Erodgan, the Turkish president, said the deal would see ‘‘50 per cent of the conflict’’ solved.
Donald Trump, the United States president, campaigned for the creation of safe zones throughout his presidential campaign.
The deal was also reached a day after a meeting between Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and Erdogan, reflecting the growing co-operation between nations once deeply at odds over Syria’s conflict. The three guarantor states also agreed on the possibility of allowing international observers to act as peacekeepers.
Kyle Orton, Middle East analyst at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, said he was sceptical of the deal, as like many previous ceasefire agreements there are loopholes which the government can exploit.
‘‘The same areas can be targeted under the pretext of hitting terrorist targets.’’ – Telegraph Group