Ankara and Moscow on Tuesday agreed on a “historic” Syria deal, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced after meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
According to the deal, starting at 12 noon (0900GMT) on Oct. 23, Russian military police and Syrian border guards will enter the Syrian side of the Turkish-Syrian border, outside the area of Operation Peace Spring to facilitate the removal of YPG/PKK elements and their weapons 30 kilometers (19 miles) off Turkey’s border in northern Syria, which should be finalized in 150 hours.
THE DEAL WAS READ IN BOTH NATIVE LANGUAGES
The deal came after Erdogan paid a one-day working visit to Russia’s coastal city of Sochi to meet with Putin to discuss Syria and Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria, which was launched on Oct. 9, to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.
It emphasized both countries’ determination to combat terrorism in all forms and manifestations and to disrupt separatist agendas in the Syrian territory.
The deal also stressed that “the established status quo in the current Operation Peace Spring area covering Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayn with a depth of 32 km [20 miles] will be preserved”.
“All YPG elements and their weapons will be removed from Manbij and Tal Rifat,” according to the deal. Both countries also agreed on to take necessary measures to prevent infiltrations of terrorist elements, said the deal.
FIRST COMMITTEE WILL BE HELD IN LATE OCTOBER
Turkey and Russia will launch joint efforts to facilitate to return of refugees in a “safe and voluntary” manner. “A joint monitoring and verification mechanism will be established to oversee and coordinate the implementation of this memorandum,” it added.
The two sides will find a lasting solution to the Syrian conflict within Astana agreement and will support the activity of the Constitutional Committee. The first meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee will be held on Oct. 29-30 in Geneva.