ANSD : Syria talks to focus on Idlib, returns

TUE 26 - 11 - 2024

Date: Nov 21, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

Syria talks to focus on Idlib, returns

_{Gemma Fox| The Daily Star}
BEIRUT: Russia, Iran and Turkey will hold the next round of Syria peace talks next week in the Kazakh capital of Astana, the country’s foreign minister said Monday, as clashes between pro-Turkey rebels left 25 dead in Syria’s east. “The participants plan to discuss the current situation in Syria, in particular in Idlib, creating conditions for the return of refugees and internally displaced people, and post-conflict reconstruction,” Kairat Abdrakhmanov told reporters in Astana, according to agencies. The conference is scheduled over Nov. 28 and Nov. 29.

Abdrakhmanov said officials from Russia, Iran and Turkey would attend, as well as delegations from the Syrian government and the opposition. The U.N. and Jordan have been invited to attend as observers.

The talks will be the 11th conference organized by the three countries, nine of which have been held in Astana.

While Moscow and Tehran both support Syrian President Bashar Assad, Ankara backs the opposition.

The last conference between the three took place in July at the Russian Black Sea resort in Sochi.

One of the most notable outcomes of previous talks in Astana was the setting up of the so-called de-escalation zones, which the powers say have reduced clashes in Syria.

Critics of the zones argue the temporary pause in fighting in key rebel-held areas allowed Assad to strategically redirect forces to other parts of the country. The Syrian peace process in Astana was launched in 2015 and has been seen to gradually eclipse earlier U.N.-sponsored Geneva talks.

The upcoming meeting comes amid continued clashes between regime forces and Islamist militants in Idlib, the country’s last remaining rebel-stronghold. The fighting threatens to derail the deal brokered by Russia and Turkey in Sochi in September that sought to avert a new offensive in Idlib by setting up a buffer zone along the border.

With the backing of pro-Ankara Syrian factions, Turkish forces have launched an offensive against Kurdish forces across the border.

In March, Turkish and allied forces in March seized Syria’s Afrin from Kurdish fighters after a fierce two-month-long air and ground offensive, but the area has since seen growing tensions and infighting between rebel groups.

Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that clashes between the pro-Ankara factions vying for control in Afrin have killed 25 fighters since fighting erupted Saturday. At least 10 people were also wounded in an explosion targeting military police officers from the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, it said.

The clashes pit the majority of the pro-Ankara rebels including the Free Syrian Army against Shuhada’a al-Sharqiyyah, a group of around 200 fighters accused of “disobeying” Turkish forces and “committing abuses,” according to the observatory. Fourteen of the 25 killed were said to be Shuhada’a al-Sharqiyyah fighters.

“The clashes have provoked terror among civilians,” head of the observatory Rami Abdel-Rahman said. Turkish tanks with heavy weaponry had entered the area and fired upon the headquarters of the group, the observatory said.

The troops had been stationed in Afrin since a curfew was imposed on civilians Saturday evening in an attempt to avoid bloodshed.

The United Nations and human rights groups have documented widespread abuses in Afrin at the hand of the Turkish-backed fighters.

Half of the enclave’s 320,000 residents were also forced to flee, according to a report by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry, with most reportedly unable to return.

In a separate incident in the east of Syria, a military convoy from a Gulf country entered the area along the front line between Kurdish forces and Daesh (ISIS), the observatory said Sunday.

The convoy reportedly crossed into the eastern outskirts of Deir al-Zor, along the front line against Daesh’s final pocket of control in Syria, entering early in the morning and staying for a period of approximately 72 hours.

The report didn’t state which Gulf country the convoy was from, but stressed the vehicles were different from those seen by the anti-Daesh U.S.-led coalition and said the drivers were heard speaking Arabic.

“The purpose of the visit was not clear, whether it was just a visit to the area or in preparation for the country’s military participation in operations against Daesh,” the observatory said.

Kurdish forces, backed by the coalition, are fighting Daesh in their final hold out in Deir al-Zor east of the Euphrates, while the regime is battling to expel the militants west of the river.

To the southeast of the country, meanwhile, the Syrian army said it had taken full control of a volcanic plateau, Tulul al-Safa, east of Swaida province, from Daesh militants.

The militants had used the area as a hold out against a regime offensive. The army said its forces have retrieved a large amount of light and medium weaponry.

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