Erdoğan: More casualties in Idlib, Syria should be prevented

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Turkey's president reiterated to his Russian counterpart on May 30 the need for an immediate cease-fire and a political solution in Idlib, northwestern Syria.       

In a phone call, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stressed to Vladimir Putin that casualties in Syrian regime attacks near Idlib mostly targeting civilians should be prevented, and the risk of a rising wave of migration should be eliminated.       

Erdoğan also stressed that Turkey's bilateral relations with Russia are moving forward with a positive agenda.       

Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib -- near Turkey's southern border -- into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.       

The Syrian regime, however, has consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.       

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.       

In addition to resulting in an estimated half a million deaths, the conflict has displaced millions of people, including some 4 million refugees in Turkey -- the country with the largest Syrian refugee population in the world.