Washington - The Washington-led international coalition announced yesterday the start of the withdrawal from Syria, less than a month after US President Donald Trump announced his surprise decision to withdraw troops from the country, while Russia demanded control of Damascus over areas where US forces would withdraw. It is important for the Kurds and the Syrian government to start a joint dialogue, while Turkey has pledged to launch a military operation in Syria "in time."
In detail, US forces, which have contributed to countering the terrorist organization "Da'ash" since 2014, have begun to reduce their numbers, but it is not clear how long the operation will take, although it will include the rest of the coalition.
"The joint task force (Operation Determined Steel) has begun our deliberate withdrawal from Syria," coalition spokesman Sean Ryan said in a statement, referring to the Washington-led coalition against the Da'ash organization, refusing to give details on the timetable of the operation, The movement of soldiers for security reasons. For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the process of withdrawal began from the province of Hasaka in northeastern Syria.
A defense official said his country had not withdrawn any troops from Syria so far, but had withdrawn some military equipment.
The official added that the withdrawal of military equipment is the first step in the process of withdrawal from Syria, which is now in operation, but stressed that the American soldiers have not left until this moment.
For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said yesterday that the implementation of US intentions to withdraw from Syria would be a correct step, but it is more important that the liberated areas be transferred to the control of Damascus.
During her weekly press conference, Zakharova stressed the importance of the transfer of areas left by the Americans to the control of the Syrian government, according to the Russian news agency Sputnik.
"In this regard, a dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus is of particular importance," she said. After all, the Kurds are an integral part of Syrian society. "
She noted that Russia remains committed to an agreement with Turkey to maintain the zone of reducing escalation in the Syrian province of Idlib. But said Moscow was concerned about the repeated violation of the cease-fire there.
But Zakharova questioned US plans to withdraw from Syria, saying: "I can not share your confidence in their withdrawal, because we have not seen an official strategy so far."
In the same vein, Turkish Defense Minister Khulosi Akar pledged yesterday to launch a campaign against the US-backed Syrian Kurdish factions, placing more emphasis on a potential conflict the United States has been trying to avoid.
Akar made the comments during an undeclared visit to inspect forces stationed near the Syrian border, directly opposite territory controlled by the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units, apparently directed at Washington and its Kurdish allies.
"When the time and place are convenient, we will bury all the terrorists in the trenches they dug, as we did in previous operations," Akar said in a speech to soldiers at a command center in Shanli Urufa province, referring to two previous Turkish campaigns across the border in Syria. "We have a spring on the east side of the Euphrates on the other hand," Akar said, highlighting the size of the potential operation. "We made the necessary arrangements and planning in this regard. Our preparations are going on intensively. "
This comes at a time when the official Anatolia news agency (AM) reported that Turkey sent a convoy of special forces units and armored vehicles to the Turkish province of Hatay on the border with Syria.
The agency sent the convoy to reinforce the Turkish military presence on the border near the Syrian province of Idlib, which has become the last stronghold of the opposition in Syria.
The convoy arrived in the Yildaghi district of Hatay and launched towards the border units, the agency said.
The Turkish military source said that the Turkish army is conducting a process of periodic change of forces in the region, and refused to clarify whether the movement is preparing for a process inside Idlib itself.
US national security adviser John Bolton said talks between US military officials and their Turkish counterparts on the Kurds and Syria would continue next week in the hope of finding acceptable results from both countries. Bolton said in a radio interview that President Donald Trump and Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo were aware that Turkey was committed to "not harming the Kurds who fought with us against an oppressive organization."
According to the transcript of the radio interview, Bolton said: "What we continue to follow in these military discussions concerns safeguards, rules and procedures so that each party feels comfortable with the way things go. We hope that these discussions, which will continue next week, will produce results acceptable to both sides. "