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ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Russian, German, French and Turkish leaders on Saturday stressed the importance of a lasting ceasefire in Syria and said a committee charged with creating a new constitution should meet by the end of the year.
Leaders of the four countries gathered for a summit in Istanbul to discuss Syria, where the violence perpetrated this week in the last major rebel stronghold has highlighted the fragility of an agreement to avoid a government offensive massive.
Ankara, which has long been supporting rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, and Moscow, Assad's main foreign ally, negotiated an agreement last month for the creation of a demilitarized zone in the Idlib region ( North West).
Idlib and adjacent areas are the last stronghold of the rebels, who rose up against Assad in 2011. The region is home to about 3 million people, more than half of whom have already fled to other areas because of the violence. advanced government forces.
"Russia and Turkey have negotiated an agreement that must be strictly implemented. Insurance has been provided on this point (…) We will all be extremely vigilant in ensuring that these commitments are respected and that the ceasefire is stable and sustainable. " told the press French President Emmanuel Macron.
"We are counting on Russia to put a lot of pressure on the (Syrian) regime, which owes its survival very clearly."
A bombing in Idlib killed at least seven civilians on Friday, the biggest single-day loss in that city since the Russian air strikes stopped in mid-August, a war observer said.
As part of their agreement last month, Turkey and Russia agreed to create a buffer zone crossing a rebel territory of 15 to 20 km (9-13 miles) to be evacuated from all heavy weapons and all jihadist fighters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Turkey fulfills its obligations regarding the Idlib deal. The process has not been easy and Russia plans to continue to cooperate, he said.
Macron, Putin, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have also called for the convening of a constitutional committee by the end of the year, according to their joint statement.
Erdogan told reporters that this should be done "as soon as possible", adding that he hoped it would be before the end of the year.
Participants in a Syrian peace conference in Russia in January decided to form the 150-member committee to rewrite the Syrian constitution, a third chosen by the government, a third by opposition groups and a third by the United Nations.
US envoy Staffan de Mistura told the Security Council on Friday that Damascus now wanted the UN to help draft the constitution, but did not want him to appoint a third of the committee's members.
Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris, Paul Carrel in Berlin, Katya Golubkova in Moscow and Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara; Written by Ali Kucukgocmen and David Dolan; Edited by Peter Graff
