MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2020) Russian and Turkish diplomats on Tuesday held discussions around the implementation of the agreements on Syria's Idlib, Ankara said.
The talks took place on the second day of the working visit of Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal to Moscow. The day prior, Onal discussed the situation in Libya with Russian representatives.
"The parties agreed to continue efforts under the March 5 protocol to stabilize the de-escalation zone in Idlib. They discussed the outcome of the third meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva and stressed the importance of the political process and the promotion of work in the Astana format," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
Onal also conveyed Ankara's displeasure at Moscow's hosting of a high-ranking delegation of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), which Turkey maintains is closely tied to the Kurdish Workers Party, known as the PKK, which Ankara labels a terrorist organization. President of the Executive Committee of the SDC, Ilham Ahmed, was in Moscow to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Syrian opposition People's Will Party.
Idlib remains one of the few remaining regions outside the control of Damascus. It is home to some three million people but has also become a haven for a hodgepodge of militants fleeing the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). Turkey extended its military muscle over the region to prevent an SAA onslaught from displacing more refugees over the border and this has created a difficult impasse in the region. The region was declared a de-escalation zone in 2017 and the two countries agreed to conduct regular military patrol to enforce a ceasefire over the entirety of Idlib.
