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Turkey and Russia should find an "immediate diplomatic solution" to the crisis in Syria, according to United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen.
"I am sure you all join me in urging [Putin and Erdoğan] to find an immediate diplomatic solution that could spare civilians further suffering, ensure some stability, promote cooperation rather than confrontation," he told an Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo yesterday (March 4).
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will meet today with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Moscow to discuss the recent developments in Syria's Idlib.
While the government forces, backed by Russia, have captured large areas from the Turkey-backed groups in northwestern Syria since December, Ankara on Sunday (March 1), announced the "Operation Spring Shield" against the government forces.
"The challenges are not only in Idlib. With five international armies active inside Syria, the dangers of wider international conflagration remain," Pedersen remarked.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, Turkey has lost 54 soldiers in the region so far, 34 of them in an airstrike by Syria's army on February 27.
"Our common goal must instead be to stabilise Syria, create the conditions for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees, and a better future for all Syrians," he further stated.
"Yet, the immediate danger is in fact more escalation and more war, and with it more death and displacement – as we see in Idlib.
"More than 900 thousand people have been displaced since December 1. Women and children together comprise 81 percent of the newly displaced population.
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"Civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities and schools, continue to be damaged and destroyed.
"The current crisis is among the worst that Syria has experienced since the beginning of the conflict.
"Idlib is a place where some 3 million civilians are taking refuge, including those who fear living under the government's rule." (TP/VK)
