Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and head of the United Nations humanitarian task force for Syria, said Thursday that the Russia-Turkey agreement on the Idlib demilitarized zone shows that diplomacy can win wars.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and head of the United Nations humanitarian task force for Syria, said Thursday that the Russia-Turkey agreement on the Idlib demilitarized zone shows that diplomacy can win wars.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi, where they signed an agreement aimed at setting up a 9-12 mile demilitarized zone in Idlib province along the contact line of the armed opposition and the government forces by October 15.
"Idlib's Russia-Turkey agreement proves diplomacy can win against all-out war. Diplomats should be able to prevent further bloodshed in Idleb and elsewhere in Syria. Idlib 'war on terror' is not called off. Our message to those planning air raids & ground offensives: spare all civilian lives. And to armed groups: it is a war crime to hide among civilian population," Egeland wrote on Twitter.
Under the Idlib deal, Russian military police and Turkish forces will be patrolling the demilitarized zone in Idlib along the contact line between the armed opposition and the government troops. All heavy weaponry operated by rebel groups must be pulled out of the demilitarized zone by October 10, the agreement stipulates.
