Turkey, Russia agree on Syria ceasefire plan

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left and Russian President Vladimir Putin   

ANKARA, Turkey (AP/ Daily Mail) /28 December 2016-Turkey and Russia have reached an agreement on a cease fire plan comprising the whole of Syria, and the two countries will work to ensure that it comes into effect at midnight Wednesday night, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Wednesday.
The Anadolu Agency, quoting unnamed sources, said the plan would be presented to all sides of the Syria conflict and aims for a cease fire that would come into force “in all regions” where fighting between pro-government forces and opposition groups is taking place.
Terror organizations would be kept out of the scope of the cease fire agreement, the agency said, without elaborating on which insurgent groups would be considered terror organizations.
It said a peace process in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana would go ahead under Russia and Turkey’s leadership if the cease fire holds. Anadolu said the two countries would act as “guarantors” of the peace process.  There was no immediate confirmation from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry.