Germany, France, Turkey, Russia meet on Syria conflict

Istanbul : The leaders of Germany, France, Turkey and Russia will meet here on Saturday to discuss possible ways of putting an end to the conflict in Syria and ensuring a ceasefire in the province of Idlib remained in place.

Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russia's Vladimir Putin, France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel will participate in the summit along with the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, Efe news reported.

The Turkish government on Friday said that maintaining the ceasefire in Idlib, agreed by Russia and supported by the Syrian regime and Turkey, was a priority for the summit leaders.

On Friday, seven civilians died in artillery fire by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Idlib, according to activists and rebel groups.

Other topics up for discussion on Saturday would be how to channel a political transition process as well as create a committee to draft a new Constitution, the report said.

Syria has been gripped by a complex civil war since March 2011, which has caused 5 million to flee the country, 6.6 million to become internally displaced, and left 13.1 million in need of assistance, according to the UN.