AFP, DARBASIYAH, SyriaTurkey on Friday started joint patrols with Russia in northern Syria to verify whether Kurdish forces have withdrawn from a key border zone in compliance with a deal reached between Ankara and Moscow. It follows an agreement that they signed in Sochi, Russia, last week, which gave Kurdish forces 150 hours to withdraw from a band of territory along Syria’s border with Turkey, in a process that Russia said has been completed. Turkey intends to set up a “safe zone” 30km deep, in which some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it is hosting could be resettled. Under the deal, Turkey is to assume control over one 120km wide section in the center of the border, while Syrian government forces are to deploy to the east and west. UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Friday voiced hope over talks in Geneva between the Syrian government, opposition forces and civil society.

Source: Taipei Times November 02, 2019 16:02 UTC