Turkey to focus on 'political solution' in four-way Syria summit

The four-way Syria summit to be held in Istanbul on Saturday will focus on finding new ways to reach a political solution in war-ravaged Syria, Turkey's presidential aide said on Friday. 

"Our main purpose at this summit will be focusing on what kind of new ways could be found based not on military, but a political solution in Syria," said Ibrahim Kalin, speaking at an international congress in the southeastern Diyarbakir province.

The summit, hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will see the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

TRT World's Hasan Abdullah has more. 

Focus on Idlib deal

At the summit, Erdogan will focus on preserving last month's Idlib deal and preventing violations by the Bashar al Assad regime, Kalin said. 

Ankara and Moscow agreed in September to establish a demilitarised zone in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.

Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib are to remain in areas where they are already present, while Russia and Turkey carry out joint patrols in the area to help prevent a resumption of fighting.

On October 10, the Turkish defence ministry announced the Syrian opposition and other anti-regime groups had completed the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the demilitarised zone.

Political settlement 

Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, who is also invited to the summit, will deliver a speech reviewing his efforts to date, according to Kalin. 

"Our chief concrete expectation of this summit is that steps to be taken for a political solution are finalised and a roadmap is determined," he said. 

Turkey expects the summit in Istanbul to help form a committee to rewrite Syria's constitution, he added. 

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, killing over 400,000 people and displacing millions of others.

Turkey hosts some 3.5 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world.