Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
The Arab media has highlighted the remarks of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about avoiding a "potential catastrophe" in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province in its coverage of the outcome of the tripartite summit.
The Bashar al-Assad regime recently announced plans to launch a major military offensive in Idlib, which is controlled by various armed opposition groups.
On Friday, the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey met in Tehran to discuss the situation and planned an offensive in Idlib by the Assad regime.
"The Syrian conflict will end only through a political process," the Qatari daily Al-Sharq reported Saturday.
Turkey’s call for an immediate cease-fire during Friday’s trilateral summit with Russia and Iran and the humanitarian crisis have been widely covered by European media outlets.British channel Sky News said in its news about the Tehran summit: “Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani pushed back against Turkey's Recep Erdogan's call for a truce.”Underlining that Turkey -- a country that has given refuge to 3.5 million Syrians since the start of the civil war -- would face a new flow of refugees if Syria’s Idlib is targeted by armed forces, British channels said north-western Idlib province and surrounding areas are home to about three million people, nearly half of them civilians displaced from other parts of Syria.Speaking at a joint news conference with Putin and Rouhani, Erdogan said it is important to end bombardments in Syria's Idlib and ensure cease-fire."If we can declare a cease-fire here, it will be one of the most important steps of the summit, and it will relieve the civilians," Erdogan said.Under the headline “Russia rejects Turkey's calls for Idlib truce”, BBC said: “Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected Turkey's calls for a truce to prevent a 'bloodbath' in north Syria.”“The three-way meeting in Tehran had been seen by many as a final chance to prevent a large-scale battle in Idlib,” it said.The Times reported that Russia and Iran rejected a truce despite Turkey’s warning of a bloodbath in the region.The Guardian said: “Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani openly clashed with Turkish president” over the proposed truce during the closing press conference.“It is unclear whether Russia will now order Syrian government forces to pause in the face of Erdogan’s resistance, and growing warnings from the west of a humanitarian disaster if a full-scale military escalation goes ahead,” the paper said.- GreeceGreek media also widely covered the summit and underlined the rejection of Turkey’s cease-fire call by Russia and Iran.Greek daily To Vima said Putin rejected Erdogan’s call for a cease-fire because the Al Nusra group in Idlib was not present at the summit.Kathimerini pointed out that the summit failed to produce any concrete steps. It said hopes to stop a new bloody clash in Syria were fading.- AustriaAustrian state television ORF said “Idlib’s future is still uncertain” as the joint conference by Erdogan, Putin and Rouhani failed to make a firm statement on stopping any attacks on Idlib.Austria’s Kurier daily shared with its readers Erdogan’s message: “If the world turns a blind eye to the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people to further the regime’s interests, we will neither watch from the sidelines nor participate in such a game.”The daily reported Erdogan as saying “the Idlib question must be resolved in line with the spirit of Astana and without giving rise to pain, new tensions or more suffering”.- GermanyGerman daily Deutschlandfunk covered the summit with a headline, which also pointed to the lack of a concrete result.It underlined that Erdogan urged for a cease-fire in the summit and said the region would turn into a bloodbath if the Syrian regime attacked Idlib; however, Russian and Iranian leaders rejected this call as they supported the Syrian regime.Die Zeit newspaper said Putin and Rouhani are in favor of an assault in Idlib to beat terrorism in the region.Der Spiegel magazine quoted Putin as saying Russian Air Force were bombing separatists in Idlib and rejected Erdogan’s cease-fire request.It also said Putin pointed out in the summit that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad needed to get full control of his country.- The Netherlands“Russia and Iran still oppose Turkey in Idlib” was the headline of the Dutch Broadcast Foundation, NOS.It reported Erdogan’s calls for a truce and warnings of a bloodbath in the region.
European media covers Turkey's call for truce in Idlib
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Saturday everybody believes Turkey can stop attacks on Syria's northwestern Idlib because Turkey's Syria policy is based on humanitarian diplomacy.Speaking at an event in southern Antalya province, Cavusoglu said: "Everybody's common rhetoric, whether they like us or not, is that 'if this [Idlib attack] can be prevented, then it is Turkey that can do [prevent] it."Cavusoglu said this is not because Turkey is a neighbor of Syria or the country maintains relations with Russia and Iran; it is because Turkey's Syria policy is based on humanitarian diplomacy and it does not have a secret agenda."Everyone who loves [Turkey] or not, is partial or impartial, they are looking at and trusting Turkey [on the Idlib issue]," he added.Highlighting that the situation also needs international effort, Cavusoglu said they will continue their effort to prevent the death of thousands of people and new waves of migration.Seven civilians were killed and seven others injured in airstrikes carried out by Syrian regime forces and Russian warplanes in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province earlier in the day, according to the White Helmets.At least 28 civilians have been killed and dozens injured in airstrikes and attacks by regime forces and Russian warplanes in Idlib and Hama since the beginning of this month, the group said.The Syrian regime has recently announced plans to launch a major military offensive in the area, which has long been controlled by various armed opposition groups.The UN warned earlier this week that such an offensive would lead to the "worst humanitarian catastrophe in the 21st century".A trilateral summit of the presidents of Turkey, Russia and Iran on Friday underlined that “there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict" and called for advancing the political process to reach a negotiated solution.
Turkey's Syria policy based on 'humanitarian diplomacy'
"Erdogan calls for resolving the issue of Idlib without catastrophe," the newspaper said, referring to the Turkish president's speech in which he gave utmost importance to the protection of civilians in the region.
The Qatari newspaper Al-Watan gave coverage under the title "Turkish president stresses the need to resolve the issue of Idlib without new tragedies and tensions".
"Turkey will not be a partner and a spectator" if the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people gets ignored in the interest of the Syrian regime, Erdogan was quoted as saying.
"We will not accept to leave Idlib at the mercy of the Assad regime," Al-Watan quoted Erdogan in another coverage of the summit.
In its follow-up to the summit, the Qatari newspaper Al-Raya also printed several prominent headlines, including "the conclusion of the Tehran tripartite summit with an agreement to address the situation in Idlib".
Also, the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed used the title “the tripartite summit ends in Tehran amid divergence over Idlib”.
Qatar's Al Jazeera led its coverage of the summit with “Erdogan on Idlib: We won't watch from the sidelines”.
Iraq’s state-run Sabah newspaper reported that Erdogan said the next summit will be in Russia, asserting that Ankara will not spare any effort to achieve stability in the region.
Al Nahar Lebanese daily newspaper said in its title “Countdown in Idlib after failure of Tehran summit”.
“The day after the failure of a summit in Tehran, fears have risen of an attack by regime forces and the new humanitarian disaster that will ensue in the last stronghold of the opposition where three million people live,” the newspaper said.
Egypt’s flagship Al-Ahram covered the summit under the title: “In the Tehran summit, divergence about the fate of Idlib and agreeing on rejecting the U.S. presence.”
Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrians, many of whom fled from other cities following attacks by regime forces.