Escalation in Idlib: Security Council session and Ankara-Erdogan talks continue with his contacts

The UN Security Council is preparing for an emergency meeting Friday evening to discuss the escalation in Syria, and today saw phone calls between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian and American counterparts and other leaders, as well as a meeting between the Russian and Turkish delegations.

The Security Council is expected to start a meeting at 21:00 GMT, according to the rotating President of the Security Council, Belgian Ambassador Mark Pekstein de Poetserv, who said that the meeting comes at the request of the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium, Estonia and the Dominican Republic, which a number of have declared support for Turkey. After 33 of its soldiers were killed by the Syrian regime’s fire.

Turkey had responded to the attack launched by the regime backed by Russia in the Idlib governorate last night, killing 20 Syrian soldiers.

A day before this escalation, nine members of the Security Council asked Secretary-General António Guterres to make a ceasefire in Idlib, and Germany also asked him to go there, but he refused, saying this could backfire and infuriate Russia, according to officials.

The Kremlin
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin ended a meeting of the Russian National Security Council on Idlib, where the Council considered that the escalation was behind "terrorists".

The Kremlin said in a statement that Turkish soldiers were killed in the areas of terrorist operations, stressing that Turkey had not implemented its obligations to prevent hostilities by "terrorists" in Idlib against Russian military installations.

The Kremlin expressed its hope that the Turkish authorities would take the necessary measures to protect Russian diplomatic bodies in Turkey, after an angry protest in front of the Russian consulate in Istanbul yesterday.

Putin and Erdogan
The Kremlin also mentioned that Putin and Erdogan stressed in their contact on the need to take additional measures to calm the situation in northwestern Syria, and they expressed great concern about the escalation of the situation, and agreed to intensify consultations between the relevant ministries, and work on the possibility of holding a summit between them on the fifth or sixth From March.

For his part, the head of the communication department in the Turkish presidency, Fakhruddin Alton, confirmed that Erdogan clearly and explicitly stressed during the call that "the blood of the Turkish martyrs will not be in vain, and that every element of the regime is a legitimate goal for Turkey to be targeted."

He added that Erdogan stressed that Ankara was waiting for the regime to be compelled to comply with the Sochi Memorandum, and that in his conversation with Putin, he had indicated Russia's responsibility to stop the system under the agreement.

Alton said that Erdogan will hold contacts today with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Alton also called on the international community to impose a no-fly zone in northern Syria.

Turkish-Russian meeting
In Ankara, the Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the meetings between the Turkish and Russian delegations for the third day in a row, to discuss developments and ways to solve the crisis, ended after two hours of discussions.

The two delegations were led by Sadat Unal, Deputy Foreign Minister and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Verchinin, in the presence of experts from the Ministry of Defense, Staff, and Intelligence Service of the two countries.

Informed sources said that today's meeting was held at the request of Russia, adding that the Turkish delegation stressed the necessity of declaring an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Idlib, northern Syria, and the withdrawal of the regime to the borders of the Sochi Agreement concluded in 2018 between Turkey and Russia.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman announced that the Russian delegation will leave Ankara, and that the meetings will not continue.

International calls
The Turkish presidency stated that Erdogan contacted US President Donald Trump today, and that they agreed to take additional urgent steps to prevent the humanitarian tragedy in Idlib, and Erdogan assured Trump of Turkey's determination to purify the area specified under the Sochi Agreement from the regime forces.

The White House said that the two Presidents agreed to contact the need for the Syrian regime, Russia, and Iran to stop the attacks in Idlib.

In Berlin, Merkel's spokesman said, "The chancellor condemns the brutal attacks on Turkish soldiers and calls for an end to the offensive operations by the Syrian regime and its supporters," during a phone conversation with Erdogan.

Diplomatic sources said that phone calls were made between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoوlu with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Ludrian, Spanish Arancha González Laya, and High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy of the European Union Joseph Burrell.

Borrell said in a tweet, that reducing stress is the key to effectively tackling challenges on the ground, stressing the need to stop killing people and end human suffering in Idlib.

The Turkish foreign minister also received my condolences from his Dutch counterparts Steve Blok, the Hungarian Peter Szijarto, the Estonian Urmas Rinsalo, and the Ukrainian Vadim Pristiciko.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Rapp said that the regime's attack on Turkish soldiers "confirms the reckless and brutal nature of the attack by the Syrian regime and Russia in Idlib," adding that London would seek to tighten sanctions on Damascus.

On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Head of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, had a telephone conversation with his American counterpart Mark Milli today to discuss the situation in Syria and the escalation in Idlib.

Turkish Chief of Staff Yasar Gular also called Milli. The Turkish Defense Minister, Khulusi Akar, had a call last night with his American counterpart, Mark Esper.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the attack led by the Syrian regime and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, as well as Russia in Idlib, had caused a humanitarian catastrophe.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that if his country and Turkey focus on the main points of the de-escalation agreement, "its implementation will be possible," adding, "The opposition forces must be separated from terrorists, secure the international road, and withdraw weapons from the region so that there is no shooting at The positions of the Syrian regime forces and the Russian air base, and these points will remain common goals for us with our Turkish partners. "

Lavrov claimed that the Turkish forces that had been bombed by the regime were not present at the point of coordinates that had been handed over to Russia in advance, pointing out that Moscow had informed the Syrian regime of the need to stop its attacks in order to allow the Turkish army to withdraw the bodies of its soldiers and rescue the wounded.

Earlier today, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) convened an emergency called by Turkey, where the Alliance condemned "indiscriminate" air strikes by the regime and Russia on Idlib, and also confirmed that it continues to support Turkey by strengthening its air defenses, following up on field developments and providing AWACS surveillance aircraft ).