Turkish President announces Syria summit on March 5

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he would arrange a summit on March 5 to discuss the ongoing situation in Idlib province in Syria.

According to the international news agency, President’s Russian, German and French counterparts will also accompany him in the summit.

President Erdogan gave a televised speech after a phone call on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He said in the speech, “We are going to meet on 5 March,”

Emmanuel Macron called for a summit on Syria with Russia, Germany, and Turkey to be held “as soon as possible” to avoid destruction in Idlib.

Macron said after an EU conference in Brussels, “We must have a meeting as soon as possible with Germany, Russia, and Turkey in the so-called Istanbul format”.

Emmanuel Macron has announced after the UN warned on Friday that unrest in Idlib could result in a bloodbath.

The crisis in northwest Syria is taking a terrible toll on civilians.

Hundreds have been killed. Young children are freezing to death.

This man-made humanitarian nightmare for the long-suffering people of Syria must stop.

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It must stop now.https://t.co/qIMzCHwvSj pic.twitter.com/j2mrCFCSYF

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) February 21, 2020

The French president said to international media, “Russian-backed Syrian forces continue to advance in the Idlib region of north-western Syria, despite calls to halt this offensive,”

“It risks causing a humanitarian disaster, an escalation of the conflict and a migration crisis,

Turkey informed that two of its soldiers died in northwestern Syria in an airstrike.

Macron said, “We have been very clear with President Erdogan and President Putin about their responsibilities,”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday, ”The unfolding crisis in northwest Syria and the terrible human toll on civilians” is now advancing into areas with the highest concentrations of people ”and threatening to strangle humanitarian lifelines,”