Turkey says truce violations put Syria talks in jeopardy
BEIRUT — Turkey warned on Wednesday that repeated cease-fire violations by Syrian government forces threaten to derail peace talks scheduled for later this month.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the talks in Kazakhstan, due Jan. 23, are to be preceded by preparatory meetings between Turkish and Russian experts in Turkey.
The Syrian government troops and allied militias have pressed an offensive to take the Barada Valley near Damascus from the rebels — despite a cease-fire agreement signed shortly before New Year’s. The government says the region was never included in the agreement. Details of the deal have not been publicized.
Amid the government offensive, the rebels have retaliated with shelling and raids on government-held areas in other parts of the country. The rebels also accuse the government of carrying out air raids in the rebel-held province of Idlib, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought refuge from the civil war, now in its sixth year.