Leaders of Iran, Russia, Turkey convene

ANKARA, Turkey — The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey met in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday to discuss the situation in Syria, with the aim of halting fighting in the country’s northwestern province of Idlib and finding a lasting political solution to Syria’s civil war, now in its ninth year.

Topping the agenda of the meeting was the volatile situation in Idlib — the last remaining rebel stronghold in Syria — where a ceasefire went into effect at the end of August, following a wide fourmonth offensive by government forces.

The ceasefire has been holding despite some violations that left six people dead last week. A major conflict in Idlib has raised the possibility of a mass refugee flow to Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians, some already displaced from other parts of the wartorn country, have moved toward Turkey’s border to flee Syrian air strikes, backed by Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that Turkey could “open its gates” and allow Syrians already living in his country to flood Western countries if Turkey is left to shoulder the refugee burden alone.

Monday’s talks are the fifth trilateral meeting among countries that stand on opposing sides of the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani are key allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad while Turkey backs Syrian rebels seeking to oust him.

Ankara is also lobbying for a plan to resettle displaced Syrians in Turkeycontrolled zones across northern Syria.