The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised on Wednesday the ceasefire agreement between Turkey and the United States for reducing violence in northern Syria
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2019) The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised on Wednesday the ceasefire agreement between Turkey and the United States for reducing violence in northern Syria.Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US Vice President Mike Pence agreed on a 120-hour ceasefire to give the Kurdish militias, which are Ankara's Primary target in the current offensive, the time to pull back their troops from the Turkish borders. Pence said that the agreement entailed a withdrawal of the Kurdish forces from the 30-kilometer (18-mile) safe zone on the border between Turkey and Syria and that the United States would facilitate process. Pence also mentioned that the US troops would not return to that area.
"I am encouraged by the agreement or the joint statement between two major allies, Turkey and the United States last week, where they at least agreed on a way forward in some very critical areas, and following that statement, following the agreement on that statement between Turkey and the United States we have seen progress, we have seen significant reduction in violence," Stoltenberg told reporters.
The secretary general stressed that the ceasefire agreement was the foundation for the political solution to the conflict in northern Syria and noted that it was important not to jeopardize the previous victories against the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia).
He also refrained from evaluating agreements between Russia and Turkey regarding Syria, made during the Tuesday meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart.
On October 24-25, the defense ministers from NATO countries will gather at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels to discuss the most pertinent issues of the day, including the developing situation in northern Syria and the organization's possible response to it.
