FILE IMAGE: Russian Military Police service members are in Syria
Russia and Turkey are currently discussing the establishment of a safe zone in northeastern Syria along the Turkish border, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed on February 24.
“[The zone would be created] On the basis of the agreement that was signed between Turkey and Syria in 1998 [known as the Adana agreement] … It is an agreement on cooperation in eradicating terrorist threats on the joint border, including the possibility for the Turkish side to act on certain parts of the border on Syrian territory,” the Russian minister told Chinese and Vietnamese broadcasters, according to the Anadolu Agency.
Ankara and Damascus signed the Adana agreement in 1998 when they were on the brink of war. Under the agreement, Damascus committed to prevent terror activities against Turkey. The agreement also included terms on cooperation in the fight against terrorism and establishing a monitoring committee.
According to Lavrov, the Russian-Turkish discussion is now focused on the final format of the safe zone, that should respect to the interests of Damascus and Ankara. The Russian minister didn’t rule out the possibility of deploying Russian Military Police units in the zone if an agreement was reached.
“We have experience when agreements on a ceasefire on the ground, compliance with security measures and the creation of de-escalation zones were accompanied by the deployment of the Russian military police. This is still possible for the aforementioned buffer zone,” Lavrov said.
It remains unclear if Turkey would accept any presence of the Russian Military Police or Damascus government forces within the safe zone. A day earlier, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that only Turkish forces should be deployed in this area.
While Russia and Turkey are preparing for an agreement on northeastern Syria, the U.S. and its allies are working on their own plan to create a safe zone along the Turkish border with hundreds of troops from NATO countries, as the Pentagon revealed recently.
Military sources told the Anadolu Agency that Turkish forces will not be allowed to operate within the U.S. proposed safe zone, which means that Ankara will likely opt for an agreement with Moscow and Damascus.
