Syrian government says it accepts proposed truce

The plan announced by the United States and Russian Federation on Monday is the result of intensive diplomacy to end the five-year-long war.

In the weekly address to legislators from his ruling party Tuesday, Ahmet Davutoglu says the aim is to establish a terror “structure” – made up of the Islamic State group and the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia group YPG – in Syria’s north. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization because of its links to Turkey’s outlawed Kurdish rebels.

Also, the ministry said it will continue to coordinate with the Russian side to identify the areas and the armed groups that will be included in the cessation of hostilities agreement “to ensure the success of agreement”.

The day before, President Bashar al-Assad announced parliamentary elections across the country – including in insurgent-held areas – for April 13.

Damascus, backed by ground forces including Lebanon’s Hizbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is making significant advances near Aleppo, which is split between rebel- and government-control. On Sunday, it staged some of the deadliest suicide bomb attacks of the war, killing around 150 people in government-controlled Damascus and Homs.

THE Syrian government agreed yesterday to a Russian-US truce plan as Saudi-backed militants continued to place conditions on peace.

Fawzi said there were plans for additional aid deliveries to opposition-held areas blockaded by government forces near Damascus, including the Eastern Ghouta.

– The Syrian Foreign Ministry stressed the right of its military “to retaliate against any violation” by armed groups. The announcement came after the main umbrella for Syrian opposition and rebel groups, the High Negotiations Committee, said it “agrees to a temporary truce” as long as the main opposition’s demands are met. The HNC said the “acceptance of the truce is conditional” to the Syrian government ending its siege of 18 rebel-held areas, releasing detainees and the cessation of aerial and artillery bombardment.

The powerful Kurdish YPG militia, which is now fighting both Daesh and rebels near Aleppo, is “seriously examining” the US-Russian plan to decide whether to take part, a YPG official told Reuters.

The official did not give further information about when the talks would resume.

The YPG, an ally of the United States in the fight against ISIS in Syria, has recently received Russian air support during an offensive against rebels near Aleppo.

With hostilities reported on several fronts, rebels backed by Saudi Arabia expressed doubts about the proposal, which excludes attacks by the Syrian army and its Russian backers on the extremist groups Daesh and Al Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front. “If there isn’t… there are certainly Plan B options being considered”, Kerry said.