Türkiye Agreed To Withdraw Troops From Northern Syria – Report

Ankara has reportedly agreed to withdraw troops from northern Syria after a trilateral meeting in Moscow of the defense ministers of Türkiye, Syria and Russia.

The agreement on the withdrawal of Turkish troops reportedly emerged after a meeting held in Moscow, where Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas and his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, talked on the security issue with their Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu.

The head of the Turkish Defense Ministry, commenting on the talks, said that it is hardly possible to resolve all issues at one meeting and that the only purpose of the presence of the Turkish military in Syria is the fight against terrorism.

The Syrian AlWatan Online reported, citing sources in Damascus, that Ankara promised to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

The parties reportedly agreed to consider the Kurdish formations of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party to be puppets of the United States and Israel and that they pose the greatest danger to Syria and Turkey.

On December 28, the head of the Turkish Defense Ministry and his Syrian counterpart met in Moscow. According to Al Jazeera, the parties agreed to form special committees of defense and intelligence representatives. The new committees should begin their work at the end of January in Moscow, and then meetings will be held in Ankara and Damascus.

The ministers also reached an agreement on facilitating the return of Syrian refugees, and also discussed the presence of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (a military association that includes Kurdish detachments) in northern Syria.

In his turn, Erdogan did not rule out the possibility of negotiations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, “when the time comes,” and the normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus. Hurriyet newspaper wrote that the meeting of the two presidents could be mediated by their Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. In mid-December, the Turkish leader proposed to the Russian president to hold a trilateral meeting with the participation of Assad.

On December 30, a series of protests erupted in the Syrian city of al-Bab against the possible agreement between the Syrian and Turkish governments.

The peace process that began in Moscow at the end of 2022 may be the first major victory of Russian diplomacy in 2023.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Hezbollah Mourns Two Fighters Who Were Killed In Missile Attack Near Syria’s Greater Idlib (Video)
• Militants Attack Workers Near Government-Held Oil Field In Syria’s Deir Ezzor, Kill Ten (Photos)
• SDF Kick Off Operation To Hunt Down ISIS Cells Near AL-Hawl Camp In Northeastern Syria (Videos)

The post Türkiye Agreed To Withdraw Troops From Northern Syria – Report appeared first on South Front.