The final statement of the Tehran summit on Syria stressed the need to separate armed opposition from "terrorist groups".
While the statement stressed the total rejection of attempts to find new pretexts on the ground on the pretext of fighting terrorism, he called for continued cooperation with a view to the total elimination of all terrorist organizations in Syria.
The Summit statement stressed the importance of Syria's sovereignty over its territory and the creation of conditions to ensure the return of refugees and displaced persons.
During the summit, Iranian leaders Hassan Rowhani and Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the need for their ally Damascus to regain control of Idlib, the last stronghold of the armed opposition, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned of a "bloodbath" and called for a ceasefire.
Erdogan said such an agreement would be a "victory" for the summit. "We can not accept that Idleb is left at the mercy of the Assad regime, whose massacres against his people are still in our minds," Erdogan said.
"We never want Idlib to become a lake of blood, and we expect you and our friends to support our efforts in this direction so as to avoid loss of life in the region."
"A message should be given through this summit to international public opinion that the guarantor states will not allow a wave of violence and a new humanitarian crisis in Syria," Erdogan said.
He explained that Idlib is the last remaining area of tension reduction areas, and the opposition is feeling deceived following developments after the establishment of those areas, and stressed that Turkey, which concluded this path sees things slide to a very dangerous point.
"We are late to take a reaction to the dead with conventional weapons or killers, but we show our position against chemical weapons. What is the difference if the user is a chemical or conventional weapon and death is the result?"
| Warnings of a humanitarian disaster in the event of the attack on Idlib, which houses about three million people (Anatolia) |
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For his part, the Russian president considered that "the Syrian government has the right to regain control of all its territory," saying that "terrorists are preparing for provocations in Syria, including the use of chemical weapons."
Putin stressed the importance of the organizational nature of the efforts of Russia, Iran and Turkey in the humanitarian field for the reconstruction of Syria.
"We hope the terrorists in Idlib will have enough thought to lay down their arms and surrender."
For his part, the Iranian president said that "fighting terrorism in Idlib is an essential part of the task of restoring peace and stability to Syria," adding, "But this should not be painful to civilians and not lead to the policy of scorched earth."
The Tehran summit comes at a time when the Syrian regime is preparing to launch an attack on Idlib province, home to some three million people - and the United Nations - half of them displaced, amid warnings from Turkey, France, the United States and Germany that the attack would cause a humanitarian disaster.