Russia, Turkey, Iran agree on Syria de-escalation zones
Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed to set up de-escalation zones in Syria for six months, negotiators for the three nations said in a joint statement on Friday after talks in Kazakhstan.
UPDATE: Russia, Iran and Turkey have agreed to deploy observers around a de-escalation zone in northern Syria’s Idlib region, which is largely controlled by Islamist militants, Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Friday.
It said the deployment was agreed in talks in Astana.
“Observers from these three countries will be deployed at check and observation points in safe zones that form the borders of the de-escalation zone,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The main mission of these observers has been defined as the prevention of clashes between the regime and the opposition forces and any violations of the truce”.
The zones will include, fully or partly, Eastern Ghouta, the provinces of Idlib, Homs, Latakia, Aleppo and Hama, according to the statement. The six-month term may be extended in the future.