Delivering a speech at an opening ceremony in the province of Izmir on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his address to the crowd of thousands that they had determined a road map for the Idlib crisis as exchanging views with Russian, German and French leaders during the telephone calls.
He said that he had talked with Russian president Vladimir Putin late Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, stressing that they had set about a plan in which Turkey was at the table of regional arbiters.
"We will take more robust and determined steps. Turkey will continue to work it has started without taking a step back and hopefully achieve the goal of regional stability, said Erdoğan.
If Turkey avoids struggling in Syria, Libya, the Mediterranean and generally in the region, those would return to the country with a heavier toll in the future, Erdoğan stressed in his speech.
"Turkey's policies on Syria and Libya are neither adventures nor arbitrary choices," Turkish leader added.
Stressing the power changes in the region, Erdoğan underlined the importance of locating Turkey in a right position, and said that the country has been fighting for a new war of liberation as a country and nation.
"Sometimes, the interests of our country and other powers conflict in this struggle. […] Turkey has enough power and capacity to pursue an independent policy and implement this on the ground," he said.
In a phone conversation on Friday, Erdoğan told Putin that the Assad regime must show restraint and the humanitarian crisis must end in Idlib.
He went on to say that resolving the crisis unfolding in Idlib hinges on full implementation of the 2018 Sochi deal.
Both leaders reiterated their commitment to all agreements reached concerning Syria.
In a joint phone call with his French counterpart Macron and German Chancellor Merkel on Friday, Erdoğan also said the aggression by the Syrian regime and its supporters in Idlib should come to an end.
Idlib, near Turkey's southern border, falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in a deal between Turkey and Russia in late 2018.
The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the territory where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
The de-escalation zone is currently home to about 4 million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces throughout the war-torn country.
Some 1 million Idlib refugees have moved towards the Turkish border in recent months, fleeing attacks by the Assad regime and its allies, and causing a desperate humanitarian situation.
Turkey has called for an immediate halt to the attacks on Idlib, and for the cease-fire to be followed, warning that if the attacks do not stop, Turkey will take action.
