AP, Astana :
Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed to set up de-escalation zones in Syria for six months, negotiators for the three countries have said in a joint statement during the sixth round of talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
The zones will include, fully or partly, Eastern Ghouta and the provinces of Idlib, Homs, Latakia, Aleppo and Hama, according to a statement issued on Friday.
The six-month term may be extended in the future.
The plan calls for the cessation of hostilities between anti-government groups and forces fighting on behalf of dictator Bashar al-Assad in four so-called de-escalation zones in mainly opposition-held areas of the country, with Russia, Turkey and Iran to act as guarantors.
The statement said representatives from the three countries were still discussing what forces to deploy in Idlib, which is under the control of an alliance spearheaded by the former al-Qaeda offshoot, al-Nusra Front.
“Delegations from Turkey, Russia and Iran determined the borders of a fourth de-escalation zone that will be established in Idlib province in talks yesterday and today,” Anadolu news agency said, citing sources attending the meetings in Astana.
The UN’s special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the creation of a fourth de-escalation zone is a positive development.
“We really welcome this agreement today because we have always been pushing for de-escalation,” he said.
“This is what the people of Syria have been asking and the fact of adding new areas to this de-escalation is crucial,” Mistura added. “It already has reduced fighting in many areas.”
Turkey’s pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said in an unsourced report on Friday that the three countries planned to divide the Idlib region in three, with Turkish forces and opposition fighters in the northwest region bordering Turkey.
It said Iranian and Syrian army forces would be deployed to the southeast, with Russian forces in between those two zones.
Though the plan for de-escalation zones was signed by Syrian-government backers Iran and Russia in May, diplomats failed to hammer out the details over boundaries and policing during the last round of Astana talks in July.
The deal laid out the areas where fighters and government forces should halt hostilities, including air raids, for six months. More than 2.5 million people are believed to live in the zones.
This is the first plan to envisage armed foreign monitors on the ground in Syria.
Troops from the three countries are expected to help to secure the safe zones.
Russia will continue to fly over the areas but refrain from conducting air raids.
The Syrian regime is to allow “unhindered” humanitarian aid into opposition-held areas, and public services such as electricity and water are to be restored where they have been cut off.
Meanwhile, U.S.-backed Syrian militias will not let government forces cross the Euphrates River in their bid to recover eastern Syria, their commander said on Friday, but Russia said army units had already done so near the city of Deir al-Zor.
An aide to President Bashar al-Assad meanwhile said the government would fight any force, including U.S.-backed militias, in efforts to recapture the rest of the country.
Syrian government forces supported by Russian air strikes and Iran-backed militias, and a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, are converging on Islamic State in separate offensives around Deir al-Zor.
The government side has advanced into the city from the west. Last week, they broke an Islamic State siege of the provincial capital, which sits on the western bank of the river.
The Deir al-Zor military council, fighting as part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has meanwhile advanced toward Deir al-Zor from the eastern side of the river since launching an offensive into the province a week ago.
Military council commander Ahmed Abu Khawla warned government forces and their militia allies against firing across the river as his fighters close in-something he said had happened in recent days.
“Now we have 3 km between us and the eastern riverbank, once our forces reach the area, any shot fired into that area we will consider an attack on the military council,” he said.
“We have notified the regime and Russia that we are coming to the Euphrates riverbank, and they can see our forces advancing,” he said. “We do not allow the regime or its militias to cross to the eastern riverbank.”
But Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Syrian army had already crossed.
“The suburbs of this provincial center (Deir al-Zor) have been liberated. Advance units have successfully crossed the Euphrates and are holding positions on its eastern bank,” she said, without specifying where.
Abu Khawla said this was “mere propaganda … no one has crossed.”
Assad aide Bouthaina Shaaban later said the Syrian government was ready to fight the SDF.
“Whether it’s the Syrian Democratic Forces, or Daesh (Islamic State) or any illegitimate foreign force in the country … we will fight and work against them so our land is freed completely from any aggressor,” she said in an interview with Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV.
Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed to set up de-escalation zones in Syria for six months, negotiators for the three countries have said in a joint statement during the sixth round of talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
The zones will include, fully or partly, Eastern Ghouta and the provinces of Idlib, Homs, Latakia, Aleppo and Hama, according to a statement issued on Friday.
The six-month term may be extended in the future.
The plan calls for the cessation of hostilities between anti-government groups and forces fighting on behalf of dictator Bashar al-Assad in four so-called de-escalation zones in mainly opposition-held areas of the country, with Russia, Turkey and Iran to act as guarantors.
The statement said representatives from the three countries were still discussing what forces to deploy in Idlib, which is under the control of an alliance spearheaded by the former al-Qaeda offshoot, al-Nusra Front.
“Delegations from Turkey, Russia and Iran determined the borders of a fourth de-escalation zone that will be established in Idlib province in talks yesterday and today,” Anadolu news agency said, citing sources attending the meetings in Astana.
The UN’s special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the creation of a fourth de-escalation zone is a positive development.
“We really welcome this agreement today because we have always been pushing for de-escalation,” he said.
“This is what the people of Syria have been asking and the fact of adding new areas to this de-escalation is crucial,” Mistura added. “It already has reduced fighting in many areas.”
Turkey’s pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said in an unsourced report on Friday that the three countries planned to divide the Idlib region in three, with Turkish forces and opposition fighters in the northwest region bordering Turkey.
It said Iranian and Syrian army forces would be deployed to the southeast, with Russian forces in between those two zones.
Though the plan for de-escalation zones was signed by Syrian-government backers Iran and Russia in May, diplomats failed to hammer out the details over boundaries and policing during the last round of Astana talks in July.
The deal laid out the areas where fighters and government forces should halt hostilities, including air raids, for six months. More than 2.5 million people are believed to live in the zones.
This is the first plan to envisage armed foreign monitors on the ground in Syria.
Troops from the three countries are expected to help to secure the safe zones.
Russia will continue to fly over the areas but refrain from conducting air raids.
The Syrian regime is to allow “unhindered” humanitarian aid into opposition-held areas, and public services such as electricity and water are to be restored where they have been cut off.
Meanwhile, U.S.-backed Syrian militias will not let government forces cross the Euphrates River in their bid to recover eastern Syria, their commander said on Friday, but Russia said army units had already done so near the city of Deir al-Zor.
An aide to President Bashar al-Assad meanwhile said the government would fight any force, including U.S.-backed militias, in efforts to recapture the rest of the country.
Syrian government forces supported by Russian air strikes and Iran-backed militias, and a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, are converging on Islamic State in separate offensives around Deir al-Zor.
The government side has advanced into the city from the west. Last week, they broke an Islamic State siege of the provincial capital, which sits on the western bank of the river.
The Deir al-Zor military council, fighting as part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has meanwhile advanced toward Deir al-Zor from the eastern side of the river since launching an offensive into the province a week ago.
Military council commander Ahmed Abu Khawla warned government forces and their militia allies against firing across the river as his fighters close in-something he said had happened in recent days.
“Now we have 3 km between us and the eastern riverbank, once our forces reach the area, any shot fired into that area we will consider an attack on the military council,” he said.
“We have notified the regime and Russia that we are coming to the Euphrates riverbank, and they can see our forces advancing,” he said. “We do not allow the regime or its militias to cross to the eastern riverbank.”
But Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Syrian army had already crossed.
“The suburbs of this provincial center (Deir al-Zor) have been liberated. Advance units have successfully crossed the Euphrates and are holding positions on its eastern bank,” she said, without specifying where.
Abu Khawla said this was “mere propaganda … no one has crossed.”
Assad aide Bouthaina Shaaban later said the Syrian government was ready to fight the SDF.
“Whether it’s the Syrian Democratic Forces, or Daesh (Islamic State) or any illegitimate foreign force in the country … we will fight and work against them so our land is freed completely from any aggressor,” she said in an interview with Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV.
