Turkey, Russia agree upon additional protocol to memorandum on stabilization of situation in Idlib de-escalation zone
A cease-fire in Idlib, Syria will take effect just after midnight Thursday, President Erdoğan said following an hours-long meeting Moscow.
"[In Idlib] the cease-fire will be effective as of 00.01 a.m. [local time] tonight," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a press conference alongside his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Erdoğan noted the Assad regime is targeting the region's stability with its aggression and was mainly responsible for violating the Idlib agreement reached between Turkey and Russia in 2018 to turn the area into a de-escalation zone.
The Syrian regime’s main purpose is to depopulate Idlib and place Turkey in a difficult situation with migration pressure, he said, adding it was inevitable to create a new status in Idlib, especially after last week’s deadly attack that martyred at least 34 Turkish troops.
"We will realize a cease-fire in Idlib, then take other steps to be decided together rapidly,” Erdoğan said, but stressed that Turkey reserved its right to response to any attack by Syrian regime during the process.
He said the spirit of the close cooperation between Ankara and Moscow provided a unique contribution to international efforts to end the dispute in Syria.
Cease-fire deal
Following the joint news conference, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov announced the additional protocol to the memorandum on the stabilization of the situation in Idlib.
The protocol urged to "cease all military actions along the line of contact in the Idlib de-escalation area starting from 00:01 of March 6, 2020."
On the protocol, Turkey and Russia, as guarantor countries to observe the cease-fire in Syria, recalled the memorandum on the creation of de‑escalation areas in Syria as of May 4, 2017 and the memorandum on stabilization of the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area as of Sept. 17, 2018.
The two countries reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria.
They also "reaffirmed their determination to combat all forms of terrorism, and to eliminate all terrorist groups in Syria as designated by the UN Security Council, while agreeing that targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure cannot be justified under any pretext."
The protocol highlighted that there can be "no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it can only be resolved through Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN facilitated political process in line with the UNSC resolution 2254."
It also added that both sides "stressed the importance of prevention of further deterioration of humanitarian situation, protection of civilians and ensuring humanitarian assistance to all Syrians in need without preconditions and discrimination as well as prevention of displacement of people and facilitation of safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their original places of residence in Syria."
A security corridor will be established 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) deep to the north and to the south from the M4 highway, according to the protocol.
“The specific parameters of the functioning of the security corridor will be agreed between the defense ministries of Turkey and Russia within seven days,” it noted.
Joint Turkish-Russian patrols will begin on March 15 along the M4 highway from the settlement of Trumba -- 2 km (1.2 mi) to the west of Saraqib -- to the settlement of Ain-Al-Havr, the protocol also said.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkey-russia-agree-on-cease-fire-in-idlib-syria/1756295