Erdogan seeking urgent Idlib cease-fire on Russia visit

By Davut Demircan and Sena Guler

ANKARA (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Russia aims to reach an immediate cease-fire in Syria's restive province of Idlib, Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Wednesday.

"On the way to Moscow, our main aim is immediate cease-fire within the framework of the Idlib agreement we signed with the Russian Federation,” said Kalin after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara.

Erdogan is due in Moscow on Thursday.

Kalin went on to say that for the safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees the condition on ground has to be favorable.

Criticizing the European Union for its double standards, he noted, that urgent aid was sent to 100,000 asylum-seekers in Greece, while ignoring nearly four million refugees in Turkey.

Idlib has been a stronghold of the opposition and anti-government armed groups since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

In September 2018, Ankara and Moscow reached an agreement in Sochi, Russia, to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

But more than 1,800 civilians have been killed in attacks by the Syrian regime and Russian forces since then, flouting both the 2018 cease-fire and a new one that started on Jan. 12.

Erdogan recently condemned the regime attacks on civilians and Turkish troops in Idlib.

Last week, Turkey opened its borders sending a wave of asylum-seekers to Europe, saying the EU has failed to keep its side of a 2015 refugee deal.