President Erdoğan urges 'concrete action' over Idlib in Merkel, Macron call

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for a concrete action to prevent humanitarian crisis in Syria's Idlib in a phone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday.

The aggression by the Syrian regime and its supporters in the country’s northwestern Idlib province should come to an end, Erdoğan said, stressing on more support based on concrete actions to prevent humanitarian crises.

He added that Turkey was continuing work setting up housing for Syrian migrants in a 30-35 km (19-22 mile) safe zone in Syria along the border with Turkey.

The trio discussed the recent far-right terrorist attack in Germany’s Hanau and the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Libya, the presidency said.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

The Syrian regime, however, violated the cease-fire several times martyring 14 Turkish soldiers in three attacks in February. The last attack was on Thursday, and two Turkish troops were martyred and five injured.

The regime's advances have sent hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing towards the border with Turkey, which already hosts over 3.7 million refugees.

Erdogan also called for cooperation on Libya issue with consistent policies for peace, prosperity and stability in the country.

Since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: warlord Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya, supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, which enjoys the UN and international recognition.

The GNA had been under attack by Haftar since last April, claiming the lives of more than 1,000 people.

Erdoğan offered his condolence to those who lost their lives in the Wednesday's racist attack in Hanau, condemning attacks fueled by xenophobia, discrimination and Islamophobia.

The attack killed at least nine people in the western town of Hanau, near Frankfurt.

The gunman, who targeted migrants at two cafe bars, was identified by security forces as 43-year-old Tobias R., German daily Bild reported.

Five Turkish citizens were among the victims, Turkish officials confirmed.

Speaking to reporters after the joint phone call, Erdoğan said the French and German leaders had proposed to hold a four-way summit with Russia but that Putin had not yet responded. He repeated Turkey was not withdrawing its forces from Idlib.