Russia has no information indicating that Ankara plans to violate the Russian-Turkish memorandum on stabilizing the situation in Syria following Turkey's offensive against the Kurdish militia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2019) Russia has no information indicating that Ankara plans to violate the Russian-Turkish memorandum on stabilizing the situation in Syria following Turkey's offensive against the Kurdish militia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"As for the implementation of the Russian-Turkish memorandum, signed on October 22, we have no information to suggest that Turkey is going to violate it. They [Kurds] must firmly understand one indisputable truth � the rights of Syrian Kurds can be ensured exclusively within the limits and within the framework of the Syrian Arab Republic's territorial integrity and sovereignty," Lavrov said at a press conference after talks with Icelandic Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson.
The Russian foreign minister called on the Kurds to launch a full-fledged dialogue with the Syrian government.
"I would advise our Kurdish colleagues to be consistent and not to try to engage in quite questionable activities in an opportunistic manner," Lavrov stressed.
Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the area of Kurdish militia, labeled as terrorists by Ankara, and the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia), on October 9. On October 17, Turkey agreed with the United States on a 120-hour ceasefire to allow the withdrawal of the Kurdish fighters from the Syrian-Turkish border. As the ceasefire came to an end, Turkey and Russia signed on October 22 their memorandum, setting conditions for the peaceful withdrawal and envisioning joint patrols to ensure the implementation of the agreement. Since then, joint patrols are conducted regularly by the Russian military police and the Turkish troops.
