Russia blasts Turkey for violations

Credit to Author: Global Times| Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 16:13:55 +0000

ANKARA: Turkey has yet to fulfill its obligations under a 2018 agreement regarding Syria’s last rebel stronghold of Idlib, the Kremlin said.

According to the TASS news agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Turkey failed to ensure the withdrawal of heavy weapons in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

Weapons have fallen into the hands of militants in Idlib, which have complicated the situation there, Peskov added in an interview with a local TV channel.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C), Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pose for a group photo after their summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Sept. 16, 2019. XINHUA PHOTO

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Russia’s resort town of Sochi in September 2018 and agreed to establish a deescalation zone in Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.

But the agreement was never fully implemented as militants were not removed from the zone and armed conflict failed to die down.

Last month, Erdogan accused Russia of not abiding by the Sochi agreement, while Peskov said then that Russia fully complied with all its obligations.

Global Times

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