You're reading: RFE/RL: UN urges Putin, Erdogan to help avert ‘bloodbath’ in Syria’s Idlib

RFE/RL: UN urges Putin, Erdogan to help avert ‘bloodbath’ in Syria’s Idlib

Published Sept. 4, 2018 at 10:07 pm

Syrians use dirt to put out a fire at the scene of a reported air strike in the district of Jisr al-Shughur, in the Idlib province, on September 4, 2018.Russian warplanes battered Syria's rebel-controlled northwestern Idlib province on September 4 for the first time in three weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, as fears of a government offensive mount.

Photo by AFP

The presidents of Russia and Turkey should act urgently to avert a “bloodbath” in Idlib Province, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, the UN envoy to Syria has said.

Staffan de Mistura said in Geneva on September 4 that telephone talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Regep Tayyip Erdogan, “would make a big difference.”