Turkey and Russia agree to control north-east Syria as Kurds forced out

Turkey and Russia agreed on Tuesday that they would jointly control a swathe of north-east Syria, near the Turkish border, as Syrian Kurdish militants were obligated to withdraw from the area under a prolonged ceasefire.

Turkey has condemned the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) as a terrorist organisation and launched an offensive into the territory earlier this month as U.S. troops previously protecting the Kurds were abruptly withdrawn.

Tuesday's deal was announced after about six hours of talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Russian resort city of Sochi. The deal extends a days-long, U.S.-brokered ceasefire that had been set to expire within hours on Tuesday night.

Erdogan described it as a "historic" agreement that would "start a new period" in the restoration of peace in Syria.[embed:render:embedded:node:37648]

The Turkish-Russian deal called for the extension to begin at noon on Wednesday, at which time Russian military police and Syrian border guards would enter the area to "facilitate the removal of YPG elements." Turkish and Russia forces were later to patrol the area.

"Within 150 hours from noon, 23 October, YPG terrorists and their weapons will be taken outside of 32 kilometres. The group's fortifications and positions will be destroyed," Erdogan announced in televised comments.

It was unclear whether there would be a ceasefire overnight, as the ceasefire was originally set to end at 10 pm on Tuesday.

Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, have forged a delicate alliance in the past year. Russia has opposed the Turkish operation as an incursion into Syria's sovereign territory. However, both sides support the establishment of civilian safe zones in Syria.

The Kremlin said that Tuesday's summit would focus on "normalising the situation" in north-east Syria.

Turkey intends to set up a 444-kilometre-long and 32-kilometre-deep buffer zone along its border with Syria up to Iraq. The military operation is intended to clear the zone.

"Today is the last day for all terrorists in the region to leave," Erdogan said in Ankara ahead of his departure to Russia. "We will resume our offensive much more determinedly if the promises America made to our country are not kept," the Turkish leader said on Tuesday.

In a written statement in the early hours of Wednesday, the Turkish Defence Ministry said Ankara sees no need to carry out a new operation in northern Syria at this stage outside the current operation area.

"At the end of the 120 hour period of the initial ceasefire the United States announced that withdrawal of PKK/YPG from the area has been completed," the statement said.

"Turkey will never allow a terrorist corridor to be formed south of its borders and our fight against terrorism will continue with determination," the ministry statement said, referring to Turkey's incursion, codenamed Operation Peace Spring. The statement stressed that within the scope of the agreement between Erdogan and Putin, joint work with Russia will begin as of Wednesday.

The office of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has said on Tuesday that the Kurdish militias had fully withdrawn from the zone along Syria's border with Turkey, as part of the agreement. Katie Waldman, the vice president's press secretary, said Kurdish military leader General Mazloum Abdi informed the vice president of the withdrawal.

Pence "welcomes this development and sees it as having satisfied the terms of the 17 October agreement," regarding the withdrawal of the Kurdish YPG militia, Waldam said in a statement.

U.S. President Donald tweeted that "Good news seems to be happening with respect to Turkey, Syria and the Middle East. Further reports to come later!"

However, Erdogan on Tuesday said "promises made have not been fully respected," referring to the U.S.-negotiated withdrawal of Kurdish forces. "Once we return we will assess the final results and if this is the case we will take the steps. If we make concessions then we clear the way for the terror organisation," he told reporters while travelling back from Moscow, according to the Hurriyet daily.

The U.S. role in the region has been key, with Washington's surprise announcement at the beginning of the month that it would be withdrawing its troops from the area seen as paving the way for the Turkish offensive.

Over the past week, Syrian government troops, accompanied by Russian forces, have entered some north-east Syrian towns along Turkey's border, filling a vacuum following the U.S. withdrawal.

Erdogan said Turkey had cleared terrorists from 4,000 square kilometres in Syria.

The current operation is Turkey's third in Syria in three years.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad described Erdogan as "a thief," saying in comments carried by the Syrian state news agency SANA that he had "robbed the factories, wheat and oil and today he is robbing the land." Assad reportedly made the comments while visiting Syrian state troops for the first time in the countryside of the war-torn Idlib region.

The Turkish incursion has drawn other countries into the fray.

Erdogan said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had offered to hold a Syria summit with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany has proposed the creation of an internationally controlled security zone in Syria.    (dpa)