Turkey on Tuesday said it hoped a ceasefire in Syria could be implemented in time for a major Islamic holiday that begins next week, despite the failure of world powers to announce a deal at the G20 summit in China.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, revealed that the Turkish leader had met separately a second time with Russian and US counterparts Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama before leaving the G20 meeting in Hangzhou.

He said Erdogan had told the two leaders that it was essential “as soon as possible to agree a ceasefire or a truce” for Syria’s northern Aleppo province.

“We are waiting for a final agreement. We received an outline but we are expecting an agreement on paper that can be implemented,” Kalin told NTV television.

Asked when such a truce could be implemented, Kalin said Erdogan had told Putin that the people of Aleppo should benefit from a suspension of fighting in time for the Feast of the Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) Islamic holiday which in Turkey begins on September 12.

Source: AFP