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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Saturday that an agreement to contain the Syrian conflict could be destroyed if Syrian government forces targeted the Idlib region , said a Turkish presidential source.
The two presidents spoke by phone after the Syrian government hoisted the national flag on Thursday in areas of Daraa in the south-west that had been in rebel hands for years. The source said that Erdogan has expressed concern about the treatment of civilians there.
"President Erdogan pointed out that the targeting of civilians in Deraa was worrying and said that if the Damascus regime targeted Idlib in the same way, the essence of Astana's deal could be completely destroyed, "said the source.
With the help of Russia and Iran, President Bashar Assad recovered most of Syria, but anti-Assad rebels still control Idlib in the north-west, while A Kurdish-led militia controls the north-east.
Turkey has installed a series of observation posts in Idlib under an agreement concluded last year with Russia and Iran in the Kazakh capital Astana to reduce fighting between the insurgents and the Syrian government in the de-escalation areas.
Erdogan said that avoiding "negative developments" in Idlib was important to encourage rebel groups to attend a scheduled meeting in Astana on July 30-31, according to the source.
Separately, the Kremlin confirmed in a statement the telephone conversation of Mr. Putin with Erdogan on Saturday and said that they had discussed joint efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis.
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