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.
Lavrov not could be but must be deploy to boost Syrian sovereignty and integrity. Let Erdogan NATO member create it’s safe zone in Turkey soil and patrol with Donald Trump in Southern Turkey.
Then the Kurds can attack from both sides – Good plan.
And now Trump is in Southern Turkey. Well it seemes Assads think they are commanders of the Russian army, so why not…
as long as it’s not the odious morons from moronistan (aka usa) that do the patrols in the northeastern safe zone. in due course syria will wish to take back control of the area and if it’s russia or turkey, nothing to worry about but if it’s the morons or the french, trouble could be brewing. but in the end, morons will always be morons and they will have to relent and feck off home to mummy and apple-pie, unless they can find a new object to attack and kill and maime and occupy but I suppose it’s too mch to ask that they, the morons, should finish off the squatters on behalf of the world.
You have a very little world. Maybee the Japanese should fix it for You and make You into bonzai.
see above treble nitwit moron
Word shit. Americans control the area with coalition. Just a bunch of talk and nonsense.
Again, Russia trying to please Turkey ?
Avoid Trump organization for your national safety.
Lavrov is Putin using toothbrush now and then.
treble nitwit,
Maybe the treaty should be modified to deploy Syrian government coalition forces into southern Turkey to prevent the Turks from supporting terrorists in Syria. And once the terror problem is resolved, both sides can withdraw.
Any agreement with Moscow will only apply to areas the Russians have a presence, which is here around the Manbij area, the rest of the northern border doesn’t have a Russian presence at all [that we know of], just SDF/US forces, and if the US doesn’t allow a Turkish presence along the border areas they control, any agreement they make with Moscow will be practically useless, that would leave 95% of the border without a Turkish presence, but worse still, controlled by the people they actually want to eliminate. That’s an open border from Turkey’s perspective, that seems pointless, only 100% of the border would be acceptable to the Turks, so the Turks need to also convince the US to agree to joint patrols, and that’s not going to happen I don’t think. The Arab league are adamant they don’t want the Turks to create a safe zone in Syria, and so far they’ve been getting their way when it comes to all things concerning Syria, I don’t think this situation will be any different, the Arab League won’t allow Erdogan to have his way in Syria no matter what the Russians and the US want. The media don’t give any true credit to the Arab League, but behind the scenes they’re the biggest movers and shakers in Syria right now, they’re the group trying their hardest to end the civil war in Syria, and also trying their hardest to remove Turkish troops from Syrian soil, not US, Russian or Iranian troops, just Turkish troops.