By Tevfik Durul
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke over the phone, said a Turkish diplomatic source on Tuesday.
Cavusoglu and Pompeo discussed an agreement between Turkey and Russia to establish a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib province, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
Following a meeting in Sochi between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two countries agreed on Monday to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syria’s last opposition stronghold.
Ankara and Moscow also signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the “stabilization” of Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
According to the MoU, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas in which they are already present, while Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing renewed fighting.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
