By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL

Scores of people gathered in Istanbul to protest a possible attack by Assad regime and its allies in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.

The protesters including Syrians living in Istanbul gathered after the Friday prayer outside the historic Fatih Mosque on the city's European side.

Speaking to the crowd on behalf of the Istanbul-based Platform of Solidarity with Syrian People, Ridvan Kaya, head of not-profit Ozgur-Der, said: “There is no state in Syria, there is only a gang that brutally murders its people”.

“We know that [Slobodan] Milosevic and [Radovan] Karadzic were tried at the International Criminal Court. I hope that Bashar al-Assad will be tried in the same way,” he added.

Mehdi Nur, from the Federation of Syrian Associations, said that the Assad regime has been massacring women and children for years.

“Over 4 million people are living in Idlib, 70 percent of them are women and children, thousands of children have been killed and thousands of women have been raped and killed,” he added.

“I would like to thank Turkish government for embracing us, sharing their food with us,” he said.

The protest came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani were in Tehran for a trilateral summit on Syria.

Speaking at the joint news conference with Putin and Rouhani, Erdogan called for an end to deaths in Syria.

Erdogan said it is crucial to end bombardments in Idlib and ensure a cease-fire.

The Syrian regime has recently announced plans to launch a major military offensive in the area, which is controlled by various armed opposition groups.

Russian warplanes on Tuesday pounded civilian and opposition targets in Idlib.

Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrians, many of whom fled from other cities that were attacked by the Assad regime’s forces.