ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2019) Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Russia and the United States failed to fulfill their obligations to Ankara on the withdrawal of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from the security zone in northern Syria, and Turkey will do it on its own.
"Neither America nor Russia were able to clear the region from the YPG, although the promises made to us were about that. Since they have not succeeded, it is up to us now. We will do what needs to be done then. The local tribes are asking us for help," Erdogan told the Turkish A Haber tv channel.
On October 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the area of Kurdish militia and Islamic State (the terrorist group, banned in Russia) militants. 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, Turkey and Russia reached a deal that would see the Kurdish fighters pull back from the Syrian border area with Turkey. In addition, Moscow and Ankara have begun joint patrols in the operation zone along the Turkish border.
On October 29, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the pullout of the Kurdish armed units from the safe zone had been finished ahead of schedule.
