The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced their agreement to the Turkish-Russian deal for areas of northern Syria and said that they would start to redeploy in areas away from the border.
The SDF issued a statement on its official Facebook page on Sunday, saying: “After intensive discussions with the Russian Federation around our prior reservations, we agreed to implement its initiative to stop the Turkish aggression against northeastern Syria, based on the Sochi agreement of Oct. 22, 2019.”
The statement added: “The Syrian Democratic Forces are redeploying in new positions away from the Syrian-Turkish border to stop the bloodshed and keep the area’s residents away from the Turkish war machine.”
The SDF statement continued: “The central government’s border guards are meanwhile deploying along Syria’s sovereign border with the Turkish state.”
This statement came after the implementation of the agreement between the recent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which stipulates that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) withdraw from the Syrian-Turkish border to a depth of 30 km inside Syrian territory—particularly in the cities of Manbij and Tel Rifaat.
The agreement also stipulates that joint Turkish-Russian military patrols be conducted along the Syrian border with Turkey, with the implementation of the deal beginning last Wednesday. Russia started its first military patrol along the Syrian-Turkish border and declared its intention to establish a military base in the border city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) in the eastern Aleppo countryside.
The SDF also said in its statement: “We stress to public opinion our full commitment to protect the region’s people and their gains, and call on the Russian Federation to implement their commitments and to guarantee the opening of dialogue between the Self-Administration and the central government in Damascus.”
On Saturday, the SDF handed over to Assad’s forces new villages in the Hassakeh countryside, enabling them to reach the administrative borders of the city of Ras al-Ayn, which was recently controlled by the Syrian National Army with the backing of Turkey’s army as part of Operation Peace Spring.
This was part of the deals that the SDF agreed to with Assad’s forces with Russian oversight regarding the SDF handing Assad’s forces areas in the Raqqa and Hassakeh countrysides after Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring on Oct. 9, 2019, and American forces withdrew from the region to Iraq.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
