MESOPOTAMIA NEWS Syria Daily: Turkey Hosts Summit with Russia, France, and Germany

by Scott Lucas | Oct 27, 2018 | eawordview – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosts Russian, German, and French leaders today in a summit on Syria’s 92-month conflict.

The meeting is likely to feature discussion — and possibly divisions — over Bashar al-Assad’s future, assistance for reconstruction, and the status of Kurdish-controlled areas in north and east Syria.

Last month Turkey secured the immediate partition of the country when it obtained Russian agreement to a demilitarized zone around opposition territory, notably Idlib Province, in northwest Syria. The accord suspended a Russian-regime offensive to reoccupy the area.

The arrangement is holding despite occasional regime shelling, including an attack on Friday which killed seven people in two villages in Idlib.

Erdoğan is now expected to press for a political transition which will include the departure of Assad from power, an objective shared by the French.

Russia, the essential ally of the regime, has had doubts about the Syrian President but has refused to endorse a transition in which he steps aside.

But Moscow’s emphasis on international funds for reconstruction, after more than $380 billion damage from the conflict, will face the condition of a political resolution accompanying any support.

Erdoğan signalled on Friday that he also wants pressure on areas taken by the US-supported, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces since 2015 from the Islamic State.

Turkey has been negotiating with the US over the oversight of Manbij, in Aleppo Province at the western edge of the Kurdish area of control. But the Turkish President said yesterday that attention should turn to territory to the east, including the SDF’s hold east of the Euphrates up to the Iraqi border.

Ankara considers the Kurdish militia YPG, the leading faction in the SDF, to be part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK. www.mesop.de