Following talks that lasted several hours in Moscow with Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the entry into force, Thursday March 5 at midnight (11:00 pm in Paris), of a cease -fire in the Syrian province of Idlib.
A few minutes before it was set up, the bombing was still continuing in the Syrian region, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
Then, at midnight past, the OSDH reported a calm "Relative" in the region, marked in particular by a halt to Russian and Syrian air strikes. However, this lull was "Punctuated by several artillery fire carried out by the forces of the Syrian regime on positions of insurgent groups" in segments of Aleppo and Hama provinces, bordering Idlib province, and controlled by jihadists and rebels.
While the Security Council has scheduled a closed meeting on Friday, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres has hoped that this agreement " to lead to(it) an immediate and lasting cessation of hostilities ”. He points out that the population in north-western Syria "Has already endured enormous suffering".
Russian-Turkish patrols
The Turkish president has warned that his country reserves itself "The right to respond with all force and everywhere to any attack by the regime" damask. Speaking before his Turkish counterpart, Putin said the two countries had joined "Agreed on a text" who, according to him, "Will serve as a solid foundation to end fighting in the Idlib de-escalation area".
The Russian and Turkish armies will organize joint patrols from March 15 on the M4 motorway, a strategic axis crossing the Idlib region, said the head of the Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, by reading a joint declaration.
According to the text of the agreement, consulted by Agence France-Presse, the two countries have planned to set up a "Security corridor" 6 km deep on either side of the highway, making a buffer zone of 12 km wide in total. The parameters of this zone will be defined by Ankara and Moscow within seven days, according to the declaration.
Organized in an emergency, the summit between MM. Erdogan and Putin took place after a sudden escalation in Idlib, a region in northwestern Syria controlled by rebel groups supported by Ankara and jihadist organizations. Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, supported by the Russian air force, launched an offensive to resume it in December, causing a humanitarian catastrophe with nearly a million displaced people.
Ankara launched a major offensive against the regime after the deaths of 34 Turkish soldiers in air strikes attributed by the Turkish government to Damascus. These clashes have strained relations between Ankara and Moscow which, despite their divergent interests in Syria, have strengthened their cooperation in recent years.
On Thursday, at least 15 civilians, including a child, died in Russian bombing in Idlib, reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Hours before the ceasefire took effect, the Turkish army also announced the death of two of its soldiers, killed by the forces of Bashar Al-Assad. Since the conflict in Syria began in 2011, more than 380,000 people have been killed.
