Turkey Ends Operation Peace Spring In Syria - Russian Foreign Minister

SOCHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2019) Turkey halts its military operation in northern Syria, from now on everything will depend on the withdrawal of Kurdish militants from the Turkish border, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.

"It is ending, and everything will depend on how the agreements are implemented, including on the withdrawal of weapons and the withdrawal of forces and means of the Kurdish units in question," Lavrov told reporters following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi.

The minister added that a memorandum that was adopted by the two presidents stipulated an end to the "bloodshed" in the region.

"The actions that will be taken, the commitments that have been made as part of this memorandum, ensure an end to the bloodshed, an end to the operation that causes such a contradictory reaction in the world and prompts Syria to dispatch border guards to the border," he added.

The memorandum in question stipulates that Russian military police and Syrian border guards will facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish militia from a 30-kilometer (18-mile) zone on the border with Turkey within 150 hours starting from Wednesday. Afterward, the Russian and Turkish forces will begin jointly patrolling the area to the west and the east of Ankara's operation, except for the border city Qamishli.

Turkey launched its offensive against Kurdish militias, viewed by Ankara as terrorists, on October 9 after its talks with the United States on a "safe zone" in the border area collapsed. The Turkish military operation has faced widespread condemnation from across the globe, with Damascus slamming it as a violation of its sovereignty and deploying troops to the northeast of the Arab republic to help Kurds repel the offensive.