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Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan give a joint press conference following their talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, October 22, 2019. Sergei Chirikov / pool / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced late Tuesday that he has struck a deal with his Russian counterpart to remove Kurdish fighters from the Turkey-Syria border and carry out joint operations to halt “infiltration of terrorist elements”.
“Starting from October 23, 12 noon, within 150 hours, YPG [People’s Protection Units] terrorists and their weapons will be removed from an area within 30 km depth and the fortifications of the organization will be destroyed,” Erdogan told a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
When the deadline expires, Russia and Turkey will start joint patrols in the east and west areas of Operation Peace Spring within a depth of 10 km, excluding Qamishli, he said.
The agreement comes just hours before a Turkish-US deadline for the YPG to withdraw from the Syrian border with Turkey expires.
“All YPG elements and their weapons will be removed from Manbij and Tal Rifat,” reads the Turkey-Russia agreement.
“Both sides will take necessary measures to prevent infiltration of terrorist elements.”
It is not clear whether the YPG will accept the deal or resist. However, according to AFP, the YPG has informed the US its forces have completely withdrawn from the area.
Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization due to its alleged links to Kurdish rebels in Turkey.
How the Syrian Arab Army fits in with the deal is not clear. However, Putin said Turkey and Syrian government must negotiate.
“Turkey and Syria have to join efforts. This is why they need to respect each other and to engage in cooperation,” the Russian president told the joint press conference.
Regarding the fate of Kurds in Syria, Putin said: “We need to launch a broad dialogue between Kurds and the Syrian government.”
“The Kurds are part of the Syrian nation.”
Turkey plans to resettle millions of Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey on a strip of land along the Syrian side of the shared border.
The agreement says these refugees have to be moved to the region in a “safe and voluntary manner”.
Syria’s Kurds say the resettling of Arab Syrians in the Kurdish-majority region amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Mazloum Kobani Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told VOA earlier on Monday they do not trust the Russians, as they were betrayed by them during Turkey’s offensive in Afrin in early 2018.
Russia abandoned Afrin at that time, paving the way for Turkish forces to launch a two-month operation against Kurdish fighters.
“We will not depend on Russia,” Abdi said, denying any deal had been made with Russia and the Syrian government.
Russia is an ally of the Syrian regime and has no intention of protecting Kurds, he added.
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