Part of the reason for that skepticism: the deal doesn’t include ISIS (which controls major portions of Syria) and the al-Qaida-linked group Jabhat al-Nusra.
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“Fighters in Syria, willingly arm yourselves, intensify your attacks and have no fear of their troops and their aircraft”, Jolani added. He said he doesn’t expect the truce to immediately end hostilities after years of bloodshed between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels who want to end his reign.
Syria’s opposition indicated on Wednesday it was ready for a two-week truce to test the seriousness of the other side’s commitment to a U.S.-Russian plan for a cessation of hostilities.
The latest agreement does not apply to the fight against the extremist Islamic State group, which both countries are targeting with airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
“If Daesh (IS) and al Nusra are kept outside the ceasefire, then the PYD-YPG must similarly be excluded from the ceasefire for it is a terrorist group just as they are”, Mr Erdogan said.
All 97 Syrian groups involved in the negotiations said they would abide by the ceasefire but rebel group Second Coastal Division said Assad forces have already attacked them in the northern Latakia province near the Turkish border.
Monitoring groups had earlier said there has been a “cautious calm” in the country since the truce went into effect at midnight on Friday.
“We are counting on the United States to do the same with its allies and the groups that it supports”, he said.
“Even under the best of circumstances, we don’t expect the violence to end immediately”, Obama said.
More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in Syria’s civil war and millions more have been forced from their homes.
The two global powers are pursuing separate air wars in Syria, with Russian Federation pounding rebel targets and a US-led coalition focused on IS jihadists.
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The United States and Russian Federation this week announced a plan to halt fighting, giving combatants until noon on Friday (1000 GMT) to say whether they would agree to the “cessation of hostilities”, which would begin on Saturday.
