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Turkey, Russia launch joint patrols in northern Syria
DERBASIYEH, Syria, Nov 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Turkey started joint patrols
with Russia in northern Syria Friday to verify whether Kurdish forces have
withdrawn from a key border zone in compliance with a deal reached between
Ankara and Moscow.
It follows an agreement they signed in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last
week which gave Kurdish forces 150 hours to withdraw from a band of territory
along Syria’s border with Turkey, in a process that Russia said was now
complete.
The patrols add to the complicated mix of forces operating along the
frontier, including US troops who inspected an eastern section on Thursday
for the first time since US President Donald Trump said last month his
country was withdrawing.
They began on Friday near the border town of Derbasiyeh — from which
Kurdish fighters have already pulled out — and lasted around four hours, an
AFP correspondent on the Turkish side of the border reported.
The soldiers had headed to the east of Derbasiyeh in a convoy of Turkish
and Russian military vehicles to patrol a strip of territory several dozen
kilometres long, according to Turkish military sources.
The Russian army said in a statement that the convoy consisted of nine
vehicles, protected by an armoured personnel carrier, covering more than 110
kilometres (68 miles).
Turkey intends to set up a “safe zone” 30 kilometres deep, in which some of
the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it is hosting could be resettled.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he would “consider
the proposal”, stressing the need for the “voluntary, safe and dignified”
return of refugees, during a visit to Istanbul on Friday where he met with
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
– Temporary deal –
Last week’s Sochi agreement between Ankara and Moscow halted a Turkish
operation launched against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria on October 9,
which left hundreds dead and prompted tens of thousands to flee their homes.
Under the deal, Turkey is to assume control over one 120 kilometre (75
mile) wide section in the centre of the border, while Syrian government
forces are to deploy to the east and west.
Along the whole length of the border, a 10-kilometre deep buffer zone is to
be created on the Syrian side which will be jointly patrolled by Russian and
Turkish troops.
The Kurds spearheaded a US-backed military campaign against the Islamic
State group that deprived the jihadists’ of their final sliver of Syrian
territory in March this year but Ankara views the Kurdish forces as
“terrorists”.
Abandoned by their ally Washington — which early last month pulled its own
troops back from the border area, effectively allowing Turkey to attack —
the Kurds turned to Damascus which swiftly deployed its forces, reclaiming
swathes of territory it lost as long ago as 2012.
President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday the Sochi agreement was
“temporary,” and will eventually pave the way for his government to retake
Syria’s northeast.
UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen on Friday voiced hope over talks in Geneva
between the Syrian government, opposition and civil society.
Pedersen said he was “very impressed” that the sides were meeting at all to
discuss amending the country’s constitution ahead of possible elections as
part of a UN peace plan.
– Crowded border –
Nearly 100 kilometres (around 60 miles) from the site of the joint patrols
in Derbasiyeh, a convoy of five US armoured vehicles was seen patrolling on
Thursday in a zone north of the town of Qahtaniyah.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was part of
an eastern stretch of the border where US forces are seeking to maintain a
presence.
“They want to prevent Russia and the regime from reaching parts of the
border that lie east of the city of Qamishli,” the de facto capital of
Syria’s Kurdish minority, Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said.
A spokesman for the US-led coalition said its forces are transiting on
routes near the border as Washington “withdraws troops from northern Syria
and repositions some troops to the Deir Ezzor region,” near the border with
Iraq.
Washington has begun reinforcing positions in Deir Ezzor province with
extra military assets in coordination with the SDF to prevent the Islamic
State group and others from gaining access to oil fields in the area, a US
defence official has said.
Trump last month said a “small number” of US troops would stay to “secure
the oil”.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1005 hrs