Ankara has said Syrian military airstrikes on rebel-held areas in Wadi Barada could jeopardize planned peace talks in Kazakhstan. Damascus has accused the rebels of deliberately cutting off the capital's water supply.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/A. el Bushy
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Turkey has accused the Syrian regime of violating a truce deal it brokered with Russia last week, warning that it could jeopardize a new round of peace talks scheduled for later this month.
While a nationwide ceasefire, in force since Friday, has brought quiet to much of Syria, fighting continued on Wednesday near the Syrian capital, Damascus. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, backed by Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, mounted at least 15 air and shelling strikes on rebel-held areas in Wadi Barada, northwest of Damascus. It remains unclear whether there were any casualties.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged the Assad regime and its backers to end their "violations" of what has proven to be a very "fragile" truce agreement.
Cavusoglu warned that any further violations would risk jeopardizing the upcoming peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, scheduled to begin on January 23.
"If we do not stop the increasing violations, the Astana process could fail," Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday. "After the ceasefire, we see violations."
"When we look at who commits these violations, it is Hezbollah, in particular Shiite groups and the regime," he added.
Cavusoglu urged Russia and Iran, Assad's key allies in the Syrian civil war who are also preparing for the Astana talks, to pressure the Syrian president to stop fighting.
The "fragile" ceasefire deal between the Syrian government and main opposition groups went into effect on Friday.
The deal is a potential major breakthrough after nearly six years of civil war.
Wadi Barada under siege
Wadi Barada, a rebel-held area just outside Damascus which holds the capital's water supplies, has been under government siege since 2015. The Assad regime's military efforts were upped in recent days after the government accused rebels of deliberately targeting the water supply, leaving some 4 million people without water for the last four days.
Rebels, meanwhile, have denied responsibility, asserting that infrastructure for supplying water was damaged in government strikes.
Damascus residents cut off from water source
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Late Wednesday, Syrian rebels accused the Hezbollah fighters of preventing Russian officers from investigating damage to the water supply pumps.
Rami Abdurrahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, said "local officials want... Russian teams to enter to fix the infrastructure" in exchange for a break in the fighting.
"But the regime wants control of the spring and the pumps to prevent any blackmail or threats in the future," Abdurrahman told AFP. "This is their condition for halting military operations."
Fight against IS continues
The Syrian peace deal excludes the insurgency against the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) jihadi group and the formerly al-Qaeda-linked Fatah al-Sham Front.
On Wednesday, the US confirmed that two airstrikes killed over 30 jihadis in northwestern Syria, namely from Fatah al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front.
The US-led coalition confirmed Wednesday that it was prepared to support Turkish forces in its fight against jihadi forces. "I can confirm for you that those discussions have been happening and the Turks are aware of some of the things that might be in store," Colonel John Dorrian said.
The United States and Turkey have clashed over US support of the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) on the ground in Syria, groups Ankara recognizes as terror organizations.
Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the US of backing IS, accusations the US State Department dismissed as "ludicrous."
How the Syrian civil war began - and gave 'Islamic State' room to grow
Although the emergence of "IS" prompted international intervention in Syria, the jihadist group entered the conflict late in the game. DW examines how the war created space for this terrorist group to expand.
Image: AP
The "Arab Spring" effect
In 2011, as regimes crumble across the region, tens of thousands of Syrians take to the streets to protest against corruption, high unemployment and soaring food prices. The Syrian government responds with live ammunition, claiming some 400 lives by May.
Image: dapd
Condemnation without consensus
At the urging of Western countries, the UN Security Council condemns the violent crackdown. The EU and US implement an arms embargo, visa bans and asset freezes in the months that follow. With the backing of the Arab League, calls eventually grow for the Syrian president's departure. But not all UN members agree with this demand.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Szenes
Assad refuses to back down
Bashar al-Assad - who has been in power since the death of his father in 2000 - sees his reputation wane with the continuing unrest. He refuses to end decades-long emergency rule, which allows for surveillance and interrogation. Russia backs its ally, supplying weapons and vetoing UN resolutions on Syria multiple times.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Badawi
The opposition gets organized
By the end of the year, human rights groups and the UN have evidence of human rights abuses. Civilians and military deserters are slowly beginning to organize themselves to fight back against government forces, which have been targeting dissidents. More than 5,000 have died so far in the fighting. It will take another six months before the UN acknowledges that a war is taking place on Syrian soil.
Image: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Outside intervention
In September 2012, Iran confirms that it has fighters on the ground in Syria - a fact long denied by Damascus. The presence of allied troops underscores the hesitance of the US and other Western powers to intervene in the conflict. The US, stung by failed interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, sees dialogue as the only reasonable solution.
Image: AP
Fleeing the conflict
As the death toll nears 100,000, the number of refugees in neighboring countries - such as Turkey and Jordan - hits one million. That number will double by September 2013. The West and the Arab League have seen all attempts at a transitional government fail in the two years of war, watching as fighting spills over into Turkey and Lebanon. They fear Assad will stay in power by any means possible.
Image: Reuters/B. Khabieh
No united front against Assad
Assad has long claimed he's combatting terrorists. But it's not until the second year of war that the fragmented Free Syrian Army is definitely known to include radical extremists. The group Al-Nusra Front pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, further splintering the opposition.
Image: Reuters/A. Abdullah
From brute force to chemical warfare
In June 2013, the White House says it has evidence that Assad has been using sarin nerve gas on civilians - a report later backed by the UN. The discovery pushes US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders toward considering the use of military force. However, Russia's proposal to remove the chemical weapons ultimately wins out.
Image: Reuters
Islamic State emerges
Reports of a new jihadist group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) emerge in the final weeks of 2013. Taking land in northern Syria and Iraq, the group sparks infighting among the opposition, with some 500 dead by early 2014. The unexpected emergence of IS ultimately draws the US, France, Saudi Arabia and other nations into the war.
