MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2019) Joint Russia-Turkey patrols will confirm the withdrawal of the Kurdish forces from the safe zone in northeastern Syria, Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish presidential communications director, said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the pullout of the Kurdish armed units had been finished ahead of schedule. The Syrian border guards and the Russian military police have already entered the safe zone, according to Shoigu.
"Turkey and Russia had set a 150-hour deadline for YPG terrorists to leave the safe zone. The time is up. We will establish, through joint patrols, whether or not the terrorists have actually withdrawn," Altun tweeted.
On October 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the area of Kurdish units and the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia). The United States and Turkey came to an agreement on October 17 for a 120-hour ceasefire in the area to allow the withdrawal of the Kurdish fighters.
As the five-day ceasefire came to an end, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached a deal late to pull the Kurdish fighters back and establish joint patrols in the operation zone in northeastern Syria along the Turkish border.
