Turkey and Russia have agreed on the plan of a nationwide ceasefire deal in Syria, and the deal could be announced at any moment, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Wednesday.
Citing anonymous sources, reports said that the two sides have reached agreement on a draft plan for the implementation of a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, with the aim to extend the ceasefire deal in Aleppo throughout the country.
Turkey has spent tremendous effort to ensure a ceasefire deal in besieged Aleppo for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians. An agreement for the imminent evacuation of civilians and opposition fighters from east Aleppo in Syria was reached on Dec. 13 after mediation efforts from Turkey.
The sources said that Turkey and Russia will aim to ensure that the ceasefire takes effect starting Wednesday night. Later on, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that the deal could be reached at any moment soon and reiterated that Turkey is in favor of a political solution.
Terrorist organizations will be excluded from the ceasefire, the sources added.
Çavuşoğlu highlighted that the moderate-opposition do not accept the presence of the Assad regime in the transition process.
Çavuşoğlu also expressed that Turkey sees al-Nusra Front as a terror organization like Daesh, and added that both terror organization were listed as terror organizations by Turkey in 2013.
In the case that the ceasefire succeeds, the Assad regime and the opposition are expected to start peace talk negotiations brokered by Turkey and Russia, also referred to as 'Astana talks.'
President Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed on peace talks to be held between Syrian moderate opposition representatives and the Assad regime in Astana, Kazakhstan.The talks are expected to take place in mid-January.
