Only military means
As the humanitarian crisis in Idlib seems to me that biggest on earth right now (a million or more civilians displaced and under constant attack in a war zone), I reproduce below the Turkish/Russian ceasefire agreement, provided by Bassam Barabandi.
What is striking here is how mendacious the preamble is. While the ceasefire and security corridor established by this agreement are highly desirable, virtually every word of the preamble is false or based on false premises. Bashar al Assad is intent on chasing people out of Idlib because he can’t control the province so long as they remain. While this agreement may hold briefly, there is every reason to believe he will renew the assault and that the Russians and Iranians will support him every inch of the way up to the Turkish border, no matter the humanitarian consequences, unless stopped from doing so by military means.
Additional Protocol to the Memorandum on Stabilization of the Situation in the Idlib De-Escalation Area
The Republic of Turkey and the Russian Federation, as guarantors of the observance of the ceasefire regime in the Syrian Arab Republic (hereinafter referred to as the Parties),
Recalling the Memorandum on the Creation of De‑Escalation Areas in the Syrian Arab Republic as of May 4, 2017 and Memorandum on Stabilization of the Situation in the Idlib De-Escalation Area as of September 17, 2018.
Reaffirming their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.
Reaffirming their determination to combat all forms of terrorism, and to eliminate all terrorist groups in Syria as designated by the UNSC, while agreeing that targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure cannot be justified under any pretext,
Highlighting that there can be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it can only be resolved through Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN facilitated political process in line with the UNSCR 2254,
Stressing the importance of prevention of further deterioration of humanitarian situation, protection of civilians and ensuring humanitarian assistance to all Syrians in need without preconditions and discrimination as well as prevention of displacement of people and facilitation of safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their original places of residence in Syria;
Have agreed as follows,
1- Cease all military actions along the line of contact in the Idlib de-escalation area starting from 00:01 of March 6, 2020.
2- A security corridor will be established 6 km deep to the north and 6 km deep to the south from highway M4. Specific parameters of the functioning of the security corridor will be agreed between the Defense Ministries of the Turkish Republicand the Russian Federation within 7 days.
3- On March 15, 2020, joint Turkish-Russian patrolling will begin along highway M4 from the settlement of Trumba (2 km to the west of Saraqib) to the settlement of Ain-Al-Havr.
This additional protocol enters into force from the moment of signing.
Done in Moscow on 5 March, 2020 in three copies, in the Turkish, Russian and English languages, all texts having equal legal force.
Signatures:
For Republic of Turkey For Russian Federation
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