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PublicPolicyJournalismSATURDAY,FEBRUARY22,2020 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O A23
Turkey’s President urged Russian
President Vladimir Putin in a tele-
phone call Friday to “restrain” the
Syrian government and halt the
humanitarian crisis unfolding in
northwestern Syria as Damascus
wages a military offensive against
the last rebel stronghold in the
country.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also
called for the full implementa-
tion of a 2018 Turkish-Russian
ceasefire agreement for Idlib
province, which collapsed after
the Russia-backedSyriangovern-
ment advance, a statement from
Mr. Erdogan’s office said.
The two leaders expressed
their commitment to “all agree-
ments,” Mr. Erdogan’s office said,
but did not elaborate.
Mr. Putin expressed “serious
concern with continuing aggres-
sive actions by extremist groups
[in Idlib],” the Kremlin said in a
statement. “The necessity of un-
conditional respect for the sover-
eignty and territorial integrity of
Syria was underlined.”
The discussion between the
two leaders came amid mounting
tensions as the Syriangovern-
ment pushes ahead with an of-
fensive that has displaced hun-
dreds of thousands of people. The
offensive has tested ties between
Turkey and Russia, who had been
working together closely in Idlib,
despite backing opposing sides in
Syria’s nine-year civil war.
Mr. Erdogan this week warned
of an “imminent” operation
against Syria to compel it to pull
its forces back behind Turkish po-
sitions by the end of February. He
said earlier Friday that the phone
call with Mr. Putin would deter-
mine Turkey’s position on Idlib.
Two Turkish soldiers were
killed in an air strike in Idlib on
Thursday after an attack by Anka-
ra-backed opposition forces that
targeted Syrian government
troops. The deaths came after Mr.
Erdogan threatened to expand
his nation’s involvement in Syria
if another one of his troops were
hurt.
Earlier, Mr. Erdogan also held a
joint call with French President
Emmanuel Macron and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel in
which he said that “the Syrian re-
gime and its backers’ aggression
in Idlib must be stopped.” He also
emphasized the need for “strong
support and concrete action” to
halt the unfolding humanitarian
crisis, his office said.
It followed a similar call by Ms.
Merkel and Mr. Macron to Mr. Pu-
tin on Thursday, during which
they proposed urgent talks with
Mr. Erdogan to ease tensions. Mr.
Erdogan told reporters the Eu-ropean leaders had proposed a
four-way meeting in Istanbul on
March 5, but that Mr. Putin had
not responded to the offer.
As Mr. Erdogan pressed ahead
with diplomatic efforts on Idlib,
Turkey’s Defence Minister Hulusi
Akar, accompanied by military
commanders, travelled to the
Turkish-Syrian border to inspect
Turkish troops.
He spoke with troops deployed
in Idlib telling them he believed
they would “succeed” in their du-
ties in Syria.
Also on Friday, Russian war-
planes struck rebel-held areas in
the region as insurgents and gov-
ernment forces exchanged artil-
lery and mortar fire in other parts
of Idlib province, the last rebel
stronghold in the country, oppo-
sition activists said.
A Russian-backedgovernment
offensive against Idlib and parts
of Aleppo province has led to the
displacement of more than900,000 people, half of them chil-
dren, since Dec. 1, according to
the UN.
On Friday, Oleg Zhuravlyov,
the head of the Russian military’s
Center for Reconciliation in Syria,
denied that “hundreds of thou-
sands of peaceful residents of the
[Idlib] province” were being
forced to the border with Turkey.
“There are no verifiable photo
or video materials or other evi-
dence that would confirm the
statements about around one
million refugees from the Idlib
de-escalation zone moving to-
ward the Syrian-Turkish border,”
he said.
The Center urged Turkey to
“take all necessary measures to
ensure voluntary and safe pas-
sage of residents of Idlib’s eastern
and southern parts to areas con-
trolled by the Syriangovern-
ment.”
Russian officials have said they
hold Turkey responsible for the
collapse of the ceasefire deal in
Idlib, saying Ankara had not rein-
ed in militants who continued at-
tacking Syrian and Russian tar-
gets.
Tension in the region has been
escalating in recent weeks as Tur-
key sent thousands of soldiers in-
to Syria in a show of force.
At least 15 Turkish soldiers
have been killed in Syria in Febru-
ary amid the offensive by Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad’s
forces aimed at recapturing re-
maining opposition-held areas in
the region.
The Britain-based Syrian Ob-
servatory for Human Rights re-
ported Russian air strikes near
the rebel strongholds of Atareb,
Ariha and Qmenas. It added that
on the southern edge of Idlib,
Turkish troops and rebels ex-
changed shelling with Syrian gov-
ernment forces.
Akram al-Ahmad, a Turkey-
based Syrian opposition activist
who heads a monitoring group
called the Syrian Press Center,
said Russian bombardment
struck the rebel-held towns of
Sarmin and Atareb.ASSOCIATEDPRESSErdoganurgesPutintobringendtocrisisinSyria
Leaderscommitto‘all
agreements’afterphone
discussionamidrising
tensionsasDamascus
wagesmilitaryoffensive
onlastrebelstronghold
SUZANFRASERANKARA
DisplacedSyrianfamilies
rideinthebackofatruck
loadedwithpersonal
possessionsasTurkish
militaryvehiclesdrive
pasttowardtheTurkish
borderonThursdayin
Idlib,Syria.
BURAK KARA/GETTY
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