Idlib ceasefire to be implemented from Jan 12

Duvar English / Reuters

Turkey's Defense Ministry said on Jan. 10 that it had agreed with Russia that a ceasefire will be implemented on Jan. 12 in northwestern Syria's Idlib region to stem the flow of civilians uprooted by the violence.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled attacks in Idlib province toward the Turkish border in recent weeks, as towns and villages have been pounded by Russian jets and Syrian artillery since a renewed government assault last month.

Turkey's Defense Ministry said attacks by air and land would halt at one minute past midnight on Jan. 12 under the ceasefire, which Ankara has been seeking for several weeks.

"Turkey and the Russian Federation have agreed on the implementation of the cease-fire within the Idlib de-escalation zone, stopping the air/ground attacks, preventing loss of life and new migratory flows with the purpose of contributing to the normalization of life," the ministry said in its statement.

The announcement came a day after a Russian defense ministry official was quoted as saying that a ceasefire had already been implemented at 2 p.m. Moscow time on Jan. 9, in line with agreements with Turkey.

Some 3.6 million Syrians have sought shelter in Turkey from their country's nearly nine year-old civil war. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Turkey cannot carry the burden of more refugees from Idlib, where up to 3 million people live.

Many Syrians still in Idlib are completely dependent on cross-border aid, according to the United Nations, but a six-year-long United Nations operation delivering supplies will expire at midnight on Jan. 10 if a deadlocked U.N. Security Council cannot reach a last-minute deal to extend its authorization.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, has vowed to recapture Idlib, the last rebel-held swathe of territory. Turkey has for years backed Syrian rebels fighting to oust Assad.