Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced on Thursday the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria that is 145 kilometers (90 miles) long and 30 kilometers wide.
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st November, 2019) Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced on Thursday the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria that is 145 kilometers (90 miles) long and 30 kilometers wide.
"A security zone 145 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide has now been established. Attacks from the west and the east in the area of Operation Peace Spring continue. We are in talks with Russian colleagues to stop them," the minister said, as quoted by the Turkish NTV broadcaster.
On October 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the area of Kurdish militia and Islamic State terrorists (banned in Russia), as well as to create a safe zone for the relocation of Syrian refugees residing in Turkey.
Just over a week later, the United States and Turkey agreed to a 120-hour ceasefire in the area to allow the withdrawal of the Kurdish fighters.
As the ceasefire came to an end, Turkey and Russia signed an October 22 memorandum in Sochi stipulating that, within 150 hours, the Kurdish militia would be withdrawn to a distance of 30 kilometers from Syria's border with Turkey to the west and east of the operation zone. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Kurdish forces' withdrawal from Syria's north had been nearly completed, and only some minor presence was still possible. The minister also stressed that the resumption of Turkey's offensive against the Kurdish militia was out of the question.
