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Russia, Germany, France and Turkey meet for four-way Syria summit

October 27, 2018 at 3:57 pm

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak (L) and Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar (left 2) welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin (right 2) before his meeting with President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) ahead of the ”Four-way Istanbul summit on Syria” at Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul, Turkey on 27 October, 2018 [Cem Öksüz/Anadolu Agency]

The leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Turkey gathered in Istanbul on Saturday for a summit on Syria, where violence this week in the last remaining major rebel stronghold highlighted the fragility of a deal to avert a massive government offensive, reports Reuters.

Ankara, which has long backed rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, and Moscow, Assad’s principal foreign ally, brokered the deal last month to create a demilitarised zone in the northwest Idlib region.

Idlib and adjacent areas are the last strongholds of the rebels, who rose up against Assad in 2011. The area is home to an estimated 3 million people, more than half of whom have already fled other areas as government forces advanced.

Attacks against 4 hospitals in Idlib, have left more than 40,000 people without healthcare in a conflict zone - Cartoon [Sarwar Ahmed/MiddleEastMonitor]

Attacks against 4 hospitals in Idlib, have left more than 40,000 people without healthcare in a conflict zone – Cartoon [Sarwar Ahmed/MiddleEastMonitor]

Shelling in Idlib killed at least seven civilians on Friday, the largest one-day loss of life there since Russian air strikes stopped in mid-August, a war monitor said.

READ: Turkey-backed Syrian rebels start to withdraw heavy weapons from Idlib buffer zone

Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Erdogan are due to have four-way talks in Istanbul on Saturday. Putin spoke ahead of the summit by phone to Macron and Erdogan.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who is stepping down at the end of next month for family reasons, is also taking part.

Under their deal last month, Turkey and Russia agreed to set up a buffer zone running 15-20 km (9-13 miles) into rebel territory that had to be evacuated of all heavy weapons and all jihadist fighters.