Russia, Turkey and Iran have signed an agreement to create ‘de-escalation zones’ in Syria. The deal which was signed on Thursday by the tripartite without the United States aims to end the intractable Syrian conflict which has gone on for over 6 years, according to Russian and Turkish Officials.
A Russian envoy said the agreement bans warplanes of US-led international coalition forces from the airspace of ‘De-Escalation Zones’ or safe zones, officially creating a de-facto ‘no-fly zone’ to coalition fighter jets.
The Syria ‘De’escalation Zones’ agreed upon by a tripartite of Russia, Iran and Turkey bans fighter jets and planes of US-led coalition forces from the zones’ airspace. Credit: REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello
Russia proposed ‘de-escalation zones’ on Thursday, a move welcomed by the United Nations and later accepted by both Turkey and Iran. The idea was rejected by the Syrian rebels and has drawn scepticism from the United States.
Syrian fighter-jets will not be permitted to fly over the ‘de-escalation zones’ for 6 months while Russian military aircraft will also refrain from flying over the area unless there are, what Russian envoy Alexander Lavrentyev called, “attempts to destabilize the situation.”
According to sources from the Syrian Summit in Astana, the Kazakh capital, the ‘de-escalation zones- are likely to be created in these areas: Idlib, the Turkmen mountains, parts of Homs, areas on the outskirts of Damascus including Ghouta and in Deraa in the south.
The intractable Syrian conflict has gone on for over 6 years without a resolution in sight. Above is the map of Syria showing the divisions of Syria along factions and control of area.
Neither the Syrian government nor the rebels opposed to Assad have endorsed or signed this new agreement by Russia, Turkey and Iran. The Syria Summit peace talks are sponsored by Turkey which supports the opposition and Assad-backers Russia and Iran.
Negotiations in Astana which resulted in this agreement to create Syrian safe zones is viewed as complementary to broader previous United Nations-brokered talks in Geneva on a political settlement which yielded no positive outcome and has no real progress as of yet.
The intractable conflict in Syria now in its seventh year has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, has drawn in world powers on all sides and has become a drawing magnet for jihadis from across the globe.
The next Syria peace talks are scheduled for mid-July in Astana according to Kazakh Foreign Minister.
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