France supports Russia-Turkey agreement on Idlib

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA)- France supports the recent Russia-Turkey agreement on installing a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib, the French Foreign Ministry said Monday in a statement.

The statement comes a day after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian held talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Paris.

"The talks focused mainly on the Syrian issues. Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed support for the [Russia-Turkey] agreement in Sochi on Sept. 17 that establishes a demilitarized zone in the Idlib area and allows to avoid the offensive operation by the [Damascus] regime and its allies at this stage," read the statement.

On Sept. 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to establish a disarmament zone in Syria’s Idlib province.

Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrians, many of whom fled to other cities following attacks by forces of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The ministers also addressed the Libyan issue and reaffirmed their support for the roadmap of Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ghassan Salamé, as well as the need to move towards transparent, peaceful and well-prepared elections as quickly as possible.