Putin - Erdogan: Reconciliation and ceasefire agreement, EU supported the move due to humanitarian aid

(Patria) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on a ceasefire in Syria on Thursday.

The real reason for the meeting in Moscow was the death of 33 Turkish soldiers in airstrikes in Idlib, which, as stated, were carried out by Russian forces supporting the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The large loss of life in a single day caused great unrest in Turkish society and further divided political circles there regarding participation in the Syrian war.

The death of the soldiers also sharply escalated tensions between Turkey and Russia, which both sides are trying to de-escalate diplomatically, including through a meeting of the presidents.

The main topic of the meeting, the first meeting between the two leaders since the death of Turkish soldiers, was the cessation of hostilities in the Syrian province of Idlib, which borders Turkey, where the fiercest fighting is taking place as it is the last stronghold of rebels supported by Turkey, the so-called opposition to the Syrian regime.

Russia and Turkey value their mutual good relations even though they are on opposite sides in the Syrian battlefield, which involves military action in Idlib. Until the airstrike in which the soldiers were killed, they managed to be on opposite sides only on the Syrian battlefield; however, the incident almost led them to direct conflict, which they have shown they want to avoid at all costs.

In the meeting that lasted more than 6 hours, Putin and Erdogan reached an agreement to establish a security corridor 12 km wide along the M4 highway, which will be jointly monitored by patrols of Russian and Turkish soldiers starting March 15.

Let us recall, Turkey launched an offensive in northwestern Syria on October 9 last year, in the border area of Idlib, to push back the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which it links to the Kurdish PKK party, which it considers a terrorist organization due to its activities in Turkey. Erdogan has repeatedly explained that the reason for the offensive was also an effort to create a security belt on the Syrian side with the aim of returning at least some of the 4 million Syrian refugees residing in Turkey.

However, military operations in the province of Idlib have only worsened the humanitarian situation, creating an even larger number of refugees and displaced persons, for whom Erdogan opened the border towards the EU a few days ago.

EU diplomat Josep Borrell welcomed the agreement between Moscow and Ankara on a ceasefire, as it will allow the flow of humanitarian aid to the civilian population.

- The ceasefire is good news. We will see how it goes, but it is a prerequisite for increasing humanitarian aid to the population of Idlib, Borrell told reporters.