Newspaper Page Text
6C Sunday, October 28, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
WORLD
LEFTERIS PITARAKIS I Associated Press
From left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkey’s
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron pose at the end
of a news conference following their summit on Syria, Saturday, Oct. 27, in Istanbul.
Summit leaders: Syrians
must lead peace efforts
Islamic State gunmen kill 40
US-backed fighters in Syria
BY CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press
ISTANBUL - The lead
ers of Turkey, Russia,
France and Germany said
at a summit on Saturday that
Syrians must lead efforts to
make peace in their war-torn
country, a challenge that was
highlighted by the absence
of any Syrian groups from
the Istanbul talks.
Meeting in an Ottoman-
era mansion, the leaders
set aside divisions over Syr
ian President Bashar Assad
to agree on broad goals,
including the eventual, vol
untary return of millions of
refugees who fled a conflict
that has lasted more than
seven years and killed over
400,000 people.
“There will be no real,
sustainable, credible return
of the refugees if the politi
cal process is not initiated,”
French President Emman
uel Macron said.
German Chancellor
Angela Merkel stressed “pre
conditions” for the return
of refugees, which must be
closely coordinated with the
U.N. refugee agency.
“From our point of view,
it is necessary that there
be assurances that there
will not be persecution or
arrests, that certain funda
mental humanitarian condi
tions are fulfilled — that a
certain humanitarian infra
structure is there,” she said.
The leaders spoke at a
joint news conference with
Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
A final statement released
by the leaders called for “an
inclusive, Syrian-led and
Syrian-owned political pro
cess,” and the convening of
a committee by the end of
the year to work on consti
tutional reform as a prelude
to U.N.-backed free and fair
elections.
The leaders noted the
cease-fire in Syria’s north
western province of Idlib,
which they hope can pro
vide some momentum for
peace efforts. The truce last
month prevented a Syrian
government offensive on
the last rebel stronghold,
which many feared would
have set off another refugee
crisis.
Idlib has been relatively
calm since then, although
both sides have accused
each other of violating the
deal. Syrian government
forces shelled rebel-held vil
lages in Idlib on Friday, kill
ing seven people in violation
of the agreement reached by
Russia and Turkey, opposi
tion activists said.
Putin, however, warned
against any “armed provo
cations” by “radical ele
ments” in Idlib that oppose
the Syrian government, say
ing Russia will step in to sup
port the Assad government if
necessary. Russian military
support, along with backing
from Iran, has helped Assad
to recover much of the terri
tory lost to rebels in the last
few years.
Western countries con
demn Assad for what they
call indiscriminate attacks
on civilians and Turkey has
been helping insurgents
trying to remove him from
power.
“For us, Assad is some
one who has made attempts
against nearly 1 million
citizens’ lives. He is not in a
respected position for us,”
Erdogan said.
Since 2015, the European
Union has been struggling to
cope with an influx of refu
gees, many from Iraq and
Syria, and European coun
tries hope war-torn areas
can stabilize so that people
can return. Germany has
pledged millions of euros to
help restore basic services
in areas not held by the
Assad government.
The summit comes amid
Turkish threats of a new
military operation across
the border into northern
Syria, in zones held by Syr
ian Kurdish fighters. Turkey
considers the Syrian Kurd
ish militia, which is backed
by the U.S., to be terrorists
and a part of the Kurdish
insurgency within Turkey.
BY BASSEM MR0UE AND
MAAM0UN Y0USSEF
Associated Press
BEIRUT — The Islamic
State group killed at least
40 U.S.-backed Syrian
fighters, captured several
alive and regained areas
they lost earlier this month
in eastern Syria near the
Iraqi border in some of
the most intense fighting in
weeks, a war monitor and
an agency linked to IS said
Saturday.
Members of the U.S.-
backed Syrian Democratic
Forces have been on the
offensive since early Sep
tember under the cover of
airstrikes by the U.S.-led
coalition to capture the last
pocket held by IS in Syria.
Friday’s fighting that
lasted until the early hours
of Saturday began when
IS, taking advantage of
a sandstorm, launched a
counteroffensive against
SDF positions east of the
Euphrates river in the
eastern province of Deir
el-Zour that borders Iraq,
activists said.
Col. Sean Ryan, spokes
man for the U.S.-led coali
tion, said they have no
confirmation of exact fig
ures “as both sides are tak
ing casualties.” He called it
a “difficult fight.”
“The sandstorm allowed
an ISIS counterattack,
which was surprising given
the conditions, but now the
air is clear and the Coalition
will continue to increase air
and fire support to assist
our partners,” Ryan said.
Rami Abdurrahman who
heads the Britain-based Syr
ian Observatory for Human
Rights said that since Fri
day IS has killed more than
60 SDF fighters, wounded
others and captured at least
20. He added that some 100
SDF fighters have fled the
battlefield as the extremist
group has carried out sui
cide car bomb attacks.
The Observatory and the
Deir Ezzor 24 activist col
lective said IS fighters cap
tured the village of Sousa
that they had lost control of
‘It’s very difficult
fighting but we
will get it done.’
Brett McGurk
White House envoy
earlier this week.
The IS-linked Aamaq
news agency said that more
than 40 SDF fighters were
killed and posted a video of
six gunmen captured alive.
An SDF official did not
immediately respond to
inquiries sent by The Asso
ciated Press.
The Observatory said
that the fighting continued
until early Saturday and
that IS gunmen attacked
SDF positions on the east
ern banks of the Euphrates
river in east Syria.
The last pocket held by
IS in Syria is home to thou
sands of civilians caught in
the crossfire.
Brett McGurk, White
House envoy for the war
against IS, told a confer
ence in Bahrain Satur
day “the military mission
in Syria is the enduring
defeat of ISIS.” He said
he expected IS would be
defeated over the coming
months.
“It is very difficult
because we are in the last
stages, where almost every
ISIS fighter is a suicide
belt,” McGurk said. “It’s
very difficult fighting but
we will get it done.”
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