(Video source: VCG)

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, French president Emmanuelle Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Istanbul on Saturday (October 27) ahead of a four-way summit on Syria.They are due to meet with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss developments in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province and the political process for resolution of the conflict. Ahead of the summit, Merkel met with Erdogan for talks on the sidelines.

The summit comes a month after Ankara and Moscow brokered a deal to create a demilitarised zone in the northwest Idlib region. Idlib and adjacent areas are the last stronghold of rebels who rose up against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. The area is also home to an estimated three million people, more than half of whom have already been displaced once during the war.