The deal between Turkey and Russia signed last week to avert a regime assault on Syria's northwestern Idlib province is the "last chance" for a political solution in Syria, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Wednesday. "We should not miss this opportunity," Çavuşoğlu said, speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) in New York after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif at the U.N. headquarters. He said peace and stability should be restored in war-torn Syria through a political process. The Turkish foreign minister said the deal between Turkey and Russia should be used to accelerate the political process by bringing together the Bashar Assad regime and opposition forces.

"The most important step we can take in the upcoming period is the establishment of a constitutional committee," he said. "Today, we shared our views regarding the immediate establishment of the constitutional committee."

He further said that Turkey's priority was to accelerate the political process and urged continued joint efforts with Russia and Iran.

Last week, Turkey and Russia agreed to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syria's last opposition stronghold, following a meeting in the Russian city of Sochi between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Turkey and Russia also signed a memorandum of understanding at the meeting calling for the "stabilization" of Idlib's de-escalation zone, where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

Under the pact, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas where they are already present, while Russia and Turkey will carry out joint patrols in the area to ward off renewed fighting.

Reports: Terrorist groups in Idlib to comply with Sochi deal

Meanwhile, some Syrian opposition groups in Idlib, speaking to Reuters yesterday, said they have growing confidence that the extremist groups in the region will comply with the requirement to leave the demilitarized buffer zone set up by Turkey and Russia under the Sochi deal.

Reuters reported that a senior Syrian opposition official said the most powerful extremist group in the region, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), had sent secret feelers to the Turkish army though third parties in the last few days signaling they would comply.

"Matters are moving well and [Hayat] Tahrir al-Sham has pledged it is going to implement but without announcing its agreement," said an opposition official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"I foresee it will be implemented within the time set," said Ahmed Toma, another prominent opposition figure who headed the Syrian opposition delegation in the Astana peace talks.

In an effort to restore calm in the region and improve the humanitarian situation, the three guarantor states Turkey, Iran and Russia launched the Astana process on Jan. 23, 2017, to complement the U.N.-brokered talks in Geneva.

HTS has yet to declare its stance on the deal, and its position will be critical to its success.

"I don't expect any hurdles in implementation from all the revolutionary forces at all," said Abdul Salam Abdul Razzak, a leading figure in the National Front for Liberation, the alliance of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) opposition group.

The National Front for Liberation, which had declared its "complete cooperation" with the Turkish effort, said it foresaw a smooth operation once logistical preparations with Turkey were concluded.

"Pulling heavy arms from the front line is not a difficult matter as most of these weapons are deployed away from the front line," Abdul Razzak said.

Previously, on Saturday, Huras al-Din, a faction in Idlib, rejected the Sochi deal, Reuters reported. The group declared the agreement was part of a plan "to eliminate the jihadist project" in the region.

Although it has not been put into practice yet and there are still ambiguities on the part of the opposition and extremist groups, the Sochi deal continues to be praised by the international community.

"We could breathe freely again after the Idlib deal brokered by Turkey and Russia, which prevented a massacre," the European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said late Wednesday.

"I would like to thank Turkey and Russia for their efforts," she added.

Saying that the war in Syria is not over yet, she added that "there won't be a winner in the aftermath."

Syrian opposition groups start over in the liberated northwest region

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition groups forced from their towns when government forces retook eastern Ghouta near Damascus are starting over in the far north, aiming to build hundreds of homes for displaced opposition figures and civilians on opposition-held land near the Turkish border.

Jaish al-Islam, one of Syria's most prominent opposition groups, likens the project to a new town for people from Eastern Ghouta who have been living in camps since the Bashar Assad regime recaptured their area in April.

The project near the city of al-Bab points to preparations for a long stay in northern Syria, and is part of a wider effort by the group to recover the north.

Jaish al-Islam commander Issam al-Buwaydani told Reuters in an interview that his group is reorganizing and rearming. Since arriving in the north, it is operating under the National Army umbrella.

A mall, a school, a mosque and a clinic would also be built at the construction site, Reuters reported while adding that the goal is to build 1,400 homes.

When Eastern Ghouta was captured by regime forces, thousands of people were forced to flee and take safe passage to the northwest.