Latakia

Turkish Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar met his U.S. counterpart Joseph Dunford on May 6 in Washington, where they discussed developments in Iraq and Syria, the Turkish military told state-run Anadolu Agency in a statement.       

Russia, Turkey and Iran will form a joint working group on "de-escalation zones" in Syria in two weeks, in order to delineate the lines of the de-escalation areas and security zones, as well as to resolve other operational and technical issues related to the implementation of the deal, according to a memorandum signed by the countries.

A Russian Tupolev Tu-154 airliner with 92 passengers on board crashed in the Black Sea at 5:25’ a.m. local time (2:40’ GMT). The airplane took off from Adler near Sochi and it was on its way to the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, Syria, carrying the famous Alexandrov Ensamble (a.k.a. Red Army Choir) for a concert ahead of New Year’s Eve.

Michael Gurenkov / Flickr

BELGRADE - Rescue helicopters have discovered debris in the Black Sea from a Russian military transport plane which went off radar en route to Syria. Most of the passengers on the Tu-154 were members of the famous Alexandrov Ensemble army choir.

A Russian military plane crashed Dec. 25 in the Black Sea as it made its way to Syria with 91 people onboard, including musicians heading to celebrate the New Year with troops.

Russia said on May 1 that talks were taking place to include Aleppo in a temporary lull in fighting declared by the Syrian army in some western parts of the country, a sign of intensified efforts to halt a surge of violence in its former commercial capital.

The United States on April 30 demanded that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's forces halt their bombardment of the city of Aleppo and help restore a nationwide ceasefire, while nearly 30 air strikes hit rebel-held areas of the city on the same day as a temporary "calm" declared by Syria's military took effect around Damascus and in the northwest.

Russia and the US have agreed to implement a temporary cease fire in the the suburbs of Damascus and areas around the city of Latakia, according to Russian news agency RIA. Surprisingly the agreement does not include the city of Aleppo, which was bombed 2 days ago by Syrian government air fighters killing tens of civilians, including children and doctors.

 A "regime of calm" will be enforced in parts of Syria's Latakia and Damascus regions from 1:00 a.m. (2200 GMT) on April 30, a Syrian military statement said on April 29. 

It will last for 24 hours in the Eastern Ghouta region east of Damascus and in Damascus, and for 72 hours in areas of the northern Latakia countryside, the statement from the Syrian Army General Command said. 

Russia said Feb. 11 it was ready to discuss a ceasefire in Syria as foreign ministers gathered in Munich in a bid to kick-start peace talks derailed by the regime onslaught on the besieged city of Aleppo.