ISTANBUL: Turkey and Russia have agreed a cease-fire plan for all of Syria that should come into force this evening at midnight, Turkish state media said on Wednesday, as Ankara and Moscow tighten cooperation to find an end to the civil war.
The plan aims to expand a cease-fire in the city of Aleppo, brokered by Turkey and Russia earlier this month to allow the evacuation of civilians, to all of the country, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Like previous cease-fire plans that had been brokered by the United States and Russia, it excludes “terror” groups, the agency said.
A Syrian rebel source, who asked not to be named, told AFP in Beirut that details still had to be submitted to the rebel groups and said there was no agreement as yet.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the plan from Moscow or Ankara.
If successful, the plan will form the basis of upcoming political negotiations between the Damascus regime and opposition overseen by Russia and Turkey in the Kazakh capital Astana, it added.
Turkey and Russia will work for the plan to come into force at midnight, the agency said, without giving further details.
It was not immediately clear how and where the plan had been agreed but there have been talks in the last weeks between Turkey, Russia and Syrian opposition representatives in Ankara.
Qatar-based channel Al-Jazeera said a new meeting is planned on Thursday in Ankara, this time between military representatives of Syrian rebels and Russia.
Ankara and Moscow have been on opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, with Turkey seeking the ouster of President Bashar Assad and Russia, along with Iran, his key international ally.
But the two countries have started in the last months to cooperate more tightly on Syria, especially after a deal in summer to normalize ties battered by Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian warplane last year.
Ankara remained conspicuously quiet as Assad’s forces, backed by Russia, took control last week of all of Aleppo in the biggest defeat for the rebels in the civil war so far.
No date has yet been set for the Astana talks and Russian foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said the meeting was still at the planning stage.
She emphasised that the talks were not intended to replace the peace process based in Geneva which has sought to find a solution for the Syrian conflict.
But the direct bilateral involvement of Turkey and Russia comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is increasingly expressing impatience at the role of the United States in Syria.
Previous cease-fire plans had been brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. They met with only temporary success and failed to lead to a solution for the conflict.
It remains unclear how the latest cease-fire plan will apply to the Fateh Al-Sham, formerly the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, which has worked more closely with the rebels since changing its name.
Erdogan had on Tuesday launched one of his most bitter attacks yet on US and Western policy in Syria, which he said was marked by broken promises.
He accused the West of not just supporting Kurdish militia that Ankara regards as a “terror group” but even Daesh jihadists.
Turkey has been enraged by the US policy of using the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) as a trusted ally on the ground against Daesh. To Ankara’s pleasure, Russia has steered clear of overt cooperation with the YPG.
The Turkish strongman accused the West of failing to back Turkey’s own incursion inside Syria in support of pro-Ankara fighters to oust Daesh from the border area, which has taken increasing casualties in recent weeks.
But he vowed: “There is no going back on the path we have set out on.”
Backing the talks in Astana, Erdogan was dismissive of the Geneva process. “Unfortunately, Geneva came up empty. How many meetings were held? And no results were obtained,” he said.
In continued bloodshed, air strikes carried out by unidentified aircraft killed at least 22 civilians, including 10 children, in a village held by Daesh in Deir Ezzor province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 as an uprising against Assad, has now lasted nearly six years and killed more than 310,000 people.
Russia, Turkey ‘agree Syria cease-fire plan’
Russia, Turkey ‘agree Syria cease-fire plan’
Iranian Revolutionary Guards officer killed in Syria, SNN reports
Rebels led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham on Wednesday launched an incursion into a dozen towns and villages in northwest Aleppo province controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire unlikely to hold: UK ex-spy chief
- Richard Dearlove: Agreement suits both parties in ‘short to medium term’
- Deal leaves Iran ‘exposed’ as its Lebanese ally is temporarily incapacitated
LONDON: The ceasefire deal struck this week between Israel and Hezbollah is unlikely to hold, a former head of MI6 has warned.
Richard Dearlove, who headed the British intelligence service from 1999 to 2004, told Sky News that the deal, which came into effect on Wednesday, is a “retreaded agreement from 2006.”
That initial deal was designed to keep Hezbollah away from the border region with Israel, overseen by the Lebanese military and the UN, but in effect it “did absolutely nothing,” he said.
This week’s deal suits both Israel and Hezbollah “in the short to medium term,” Dearlove said, adding: “The Israelis must know how much of the infrastructure of Hezbollah they’ve taken down … They haven’t taken it down completely, but maybe the Lebanese state can reassert some of its authority as the government of Lebanon and keep Hezbollah to an extent under control. We just have to wait and see what happens.”
He said the ceasefire deal will be a blow to Hezbollah’s backer Iran, leaving the latter “exposed” with one of its allies temporarily incapacitated.
But he warned that this could escalate into “direct” confrontation between Israel and Iran were the latter to launch another ballistic missile attack.
Israeli FM: ‘No justification’ for ICC to take steps against Israeli leaders
- The foreign minister also said Israel would finish the war in Gaza when it “achieves its objectives”
PRAGUE: Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday that the ICC had “no justification” for issuing arrests warrants for Israeli leaders, in a joint press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
Saar told Reuters Israel has appealed the decision and that it sets a dangerous precedent.
The foreign minister also said Israel would finish the war in Gaza when it “achieves its objectives” of returning hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza and ensuring the Iranian-backed group no longer controls the strip. Saar said Israel does not intend to control civilian life in Gaza and that he believes peace is “inevitable” but can’t be based on “illusions.”
Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025
- The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him
ROME: Pope Francis said on Thursday he planned to visit Turkiye’s Iznik next year for the anniversary of the first council of the Christian Church, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The early centuries of Christianity were marked by debate about how Jesus could be both God and man, and the Church decided on the issue at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
“During the Holy Year, we will also have the opportunity to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the first great Ecumenical Council, that of Nicaea. I plan to go there,” the pontiff was quoted as saying at a theological committee event.
The city, now known as Iznik, is in western Anatolia, some 150km southeast of Istanbul.
The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip and the spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, had said the two men would celebrate the important recurrence together but no official confirmation had been made yet.
Despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him because of health issues, Francis, who will turn 88 on Dec. 17, completed in September a 12-day tour across Asia, the longest of his 11-year papacy.
Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations
- Adani Group holds a 70 percent stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country
- US last week accused Adani Group of being part of scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure contracts, misleading US investors
HYDERABAD, India: Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue to invest in the country, Israel’s envoy to India said on Thursday, affirming the nation’s support for the ports-to-media conglomerate whose billionaire founder is facing bribery allegations in the United States.
“We wish Adani and all Indian companies continue to invest in Israel,” Ambassador Reuven Azar said in an interview with Reuters, adding that allegations by US authorities were “not something that’s problematic” from Israel’s point of view.
The Adani Group holds a 70% stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country, including to produce military drones and plans for the manufacture of commercial semiconductors.
US authorities last week accused Gautam Adani, his nephew, and Adani Green’s managing director of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts and misleading US investors during fund raising efforts there.
Adani Group has denied all the accusations, calling them “baseless.”
Still, shares and bonds of Adani companies were hammered last week and some partners began to review joint projects.
“I am sure Adani Group will resolve its problems,” Azar said on the sidelines of an event in the southern city of Hyderabad.
