Turkey has announced that the new ceasefire in Idlib, which entered into force in on Sunday morning, is proceeding well and that no violations have been detected by the regime or the armed opposition factions.
In a statement, the Turkish defense ministry said it is noticeable that the parties to the conflict in Idlib, Syria, have committed to a ceasefire, and the situation appears calm except for one or two individual incidents.
It noted it was closely following ceasefire agreements, adding that the situation was calm “except for one or two separate incidents”.
Turkey, which for years has backed Syrian rebels fighting to oust Head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad, said on Friday it had agreed on the ceasefire with Russia to stem the flow of tens of thousands of civilians uprooted by the violence.
“Based on the agreement between Turkey and the Russian Federation, the ceasefire will be effective as of 00:01 hours, 12 January 2020 in the Idlib De-escalation Zone,” the ministry announced on Twitter.
Separately on Jan. 9, Russia’s defense ministry announced a ceasefire in the region taking effect at 02.00 p.m. local time.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday evening, during which they discussed developments in Idlib.
A high-ranking Turkish delegation will head to Moscow on Monday, including Foreign and Defense Ministers Mevlüt Çavuşolu and Khulsi Akar and Head of Intelligence Hakan Fidan.
The delegation is scheduled to hold talks on the Syrian file and in particular the situation in Idlib, in addition to the developments in Libya.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin discussed with US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien in a telephone conversation on Sunday evening the security situation in Syria and the ceasefire reached between Turkey and Russia.
Both officials also discussed developments in Iraq and Iran and agreed to exert more effort to ease tension.
