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After a long meeting in Sochi, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached an agreement on Syria. Russia undertakes to ensure, with the Syrian army, the total withdrawal of Kurdish forces along the Turkish border from Wednesday, October 23.
With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday (October 22nd) hailed a "historic agreement" on Syria , as Tuesday night expired Turkey's deadline for these Kurdish fighters to evacuate the area of the offensive launched on the 9th. October. During the night, the Turkish authorities took note of this withdrawal.
Several hours before the end of Ankara's deadline , the Kurdish forces announced that they had " fully " fulfilled the terms of the Washington-negotiated truce agreement - that is, evacuating the area with heavy weapons. . It seems that Turkey considers, for the most part, that word has been kept.
Another unnecessary operation " at this point "
In a statement issued overnight, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said it had been informed by the United States of the withdrawal of Kurdish forces. He announces that under the agreement signed in Sochi with Russia, another operation is " at this stage " not considered necessary. A few hours earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had however considered that the promises of the agreement had not been fully respected.
On the ground, the status quo thus prevails for the moment. Turkish soldiers remain on the spot, with their Syrian auxiliaries, in an area 120 kilometers long and 32 kilometers deep between the cities of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain . But the Turkish army has warned, its troops will strike immediately if they find themselves facing " terrorists " - in other words, Kurdish fighters. In this area, Turkish soldiers remain with their Syrian counterparts to prevent the return of Kurdish fighters.
Kurdish withdrawal must last nearly six days
Elsewhere, at first, the Russian military police and Syrian border guards are expected to deploy from this afternoon to ensure the withdrawal of Kurdish militias, with their weapons, 30 kilometers deep. This first step should last a little over six days - which brings us to next Tuesday. In a second time, Russian and Turkish patrols will be set up on a depth of 10 kilometers in this zone, with the exception of Qamishlo.
The agreement does not mention what will happen to Kurdish fighters, whom Turkey threatens to attack if they refuse to withdraw. Will some of them be able to go to the areas where US soldiers who have left Syria, that is Iraq, have redeployed themselves? Will they join the Syrian army, as Moscow apparently wants? This is a point that Turkey will obviously follow very closely.