Officials from Russia, Iran and Turkey assembled with representatives of the Syrian opposition and the Syrian regime in the Kazakh capital Astana today. The first order of business was reportedly to ensure that a shaky cease-fire in the rebel-held province of Idlib agreed in September doesn’t collapse.
Worries that the violence would escalate grew after Russian war planes struck opposition targets in Hama and Idlib provinces Sunday. It was the sharpest flare-up since mid-September, when Turkey and Russia sealed an agreement designating a demilitarized zone encircling Idlib and parts of rebel-held Aleppo and Hama provinces. The Russians said they were responding to an alleged chemical attack on Aleppo city’s al-Khalidiya neighborhood by opposition rebels the same day.
