Turkey, which made a major military incursion into the north of Syria two weeks ago, said it was preparing aid for Aleppo once the truce was in place.
Advertisement
Once there are seven consecutive days of reduced violence and aid groups receive humanitarian access to the war-torn Aleppo area, the US and Russian Federation would begin working out of a “joint implementation center” where they would discuss how they would continue fighting the Syria Conquest Front, formerly known as the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, and Islamic State militants.
The statement said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had “closely followed” the process to secure the ceasefire, following talks with Russian and U.S. counterparts Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 in China.
A rejuvenated truce that will compel President Bashar Assad’s air and ground forces to pull back.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov look toward one another during a press conference following their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland where they discussed the crisis in Syria September 9, 2016.
Syria’s moderate Free Syrian Army said they saw little chance of the deal’s success, with a spokesman for one of its brigades saying that Damascus and Moscow had not observed the last agreement so were unlikely to observe this one.
“Today, the United States and Russian Federation are announcing a plan which we hope will reduce violence, ease suffering and resume movement towards a negotiated peace and a political transition in Syria”, Kerry said.
Washington has applauded Turkey’s actions against IS but is wary of its assault on the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which has been a USA ally in the fight against the jihadists.
“We welcome the deal if it is going to be enforced”, they said.
Also on Monday, the USA and Russian Federation will begin preparations for the creation of a Joint Implementation Centre that will involve information sharing needed to define areas controlled by the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) and opposition groups in areas “of active hostilities”.
Truces agreed in the past have collapsed after both sides failed to hold up their ends of the bargain.
The arrangement ultimately would aim to step up and concentrate the firepower of two of the world’s most powerful militaries against the Islamic State group and the former Nusra Front, listed by the United Nations as terrorist groups.
Kerry acknowledged “confusion” over Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and “legitimate opposition groups” that had led to a “fraying” of a ceasefire that was shepherded earlier this year by the United States and Russian Federation and brought a badly-needed, if temporary, respite to Syrian civilians for several weeks.
Lister said rebels had not indicated willingness to break off that alliance, which they see as “a military necessity”.
The main Syrian opposition umbrella group says it hopes a new U.S.
The opposition had suggested it was prepared to comply with the plan, he said, supplied the Syrian authorities “shows it’s serious”.
The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said helicopters dropped the barrel bombs.
Advertisement
“The armed opposition in Syria now faces what is perhaps its biggest and most momentous decision since they chose to take up arms against the Assad regime in 2011”, said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute think-tank.
