Germany urges prevention of disaster in Syria’s Idlib

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

Germany has urged the international community to act against a humanitarian disaster in the Syrian province of Idlib amid reports of a potential military offensive by the regime forces.

“We will do everything to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Idlib,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told a news conference in Berlin on Monday.

“This will be one of the main topics during my visit to Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday,” he added.

Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrian people, many of whom fled from other cities which were attacked by the Assad regime’s forces.

“We have witnessed the brutality of the Assad regime in the past … it is a very, very serious situation,” Maas said.

He also warned that a military escalation would severely undermine ongoing efforts for a political solution to the seven years of civil war in Syria.