The UN’s humanitarian envoy for Syria has expressed “cautious optimism” that a ceasefire will hold in the opposition-held northwest, two months after Russia and Turkey declared a demilitarized zone.
Jan Egeland told reporters after a UN meeting on humanitarian operations on Thursday, “The worst case scenario is still horrific war across enormous areas but the way that Russia and Turkey tell us of their plans…makes me a cautious optimist. I don’t see the big war coming any time soon to Idlib.”
However, he warned, “There are many signs that bad things will happen unless there are further breakthroughs in the negotiations with the numerous armed groups inside.”
Turkish and Russian leaders Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin announced a 15 to 20-km wide and 100-km long zone around Idlib and northern Hama Provinces in mid-September.
The Assad regime is seeking to lift the zone and renew a suspended Russian-regime offensive to retake the last major opposition area in Syria. Pro-Assad forces have shelled the perimeter of the zone, and there was fighting between pro-Assad and rebel units in northern Hama last week.
But Ankara and Moscow have held firm over the ceasefire.
Syria Daily, Oct 31: Kremlin Slaps Down Assad Regime Over Opposition Area
An estimated 3 million Syrians — about 20% of the country’s current population — live in the area. About half of them are displaced from other parts of the country.
