The Russian Military Police withdrew from the strategic town of Tell Rifaat in the northern Aleppo countryside in the early hours of April 10, according to al-Arabiya TV.
Tell Rifaat is jointly controlled by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). The town is hoisting thousands of civilians who were displaced from their homes in the area of Afrin following the Turkish invasion last year.
Citing local sources, al-Arabiya said that the SAA reinforced its positions in Tell Rifaat and its surroundings following the withdrawal of Russian forces. The source told the UAE-based channel that the locals are fearing a near Turkish attack.
Syrian opposition sources said that the Turkish military deployed a large force, including several armored vehicles in the village of Qartah, east of Tell Rifaat. The step reportedly coincided with the alleged withdrawal of Russian forces, which further legitimize the locals’ fear.
#بالصور
الجيش التركي ينقل بعض التعزيزات العسكرية إلى قرية قراطه شمال مدينة #منبج في ريف #حلب الشمالي الشرقي #تركيا #سوريا pic.twitter.com/MT8CimDYFl— وكالة يونيوز للأخبار (@uunionnews) April 10, 2019
Last year, senior Turkish officials vowed to capture Tell Rifaat after occupying Afrin. However, the deployment of the Russia Military Police in the town put an end to these threats.
Al-Arabia’s claims were not confirmed or denied by any official Russian source. These claims came two days after a meeting between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting was reportedly focused on the situation in Syria.
Another gift, after Idlib, of Putin to Erdogan. As soon as possible, Putin will give Erdogan a “safe” zone of 20 miles in the north of Syria .
IMHO this is a done deal. And to get the Turks out of Syria will be next to impossible for a very long time.. But we will see. We all waited since last year what they are going to do on Idlib and YPG. It will play out like Afrin, this news likely confirms that Putin gave the green light.
“…..Putin gave the green light.” Sure looks like it.
/why not ?
Yes, that has high probability (very close to one).
The Russians are such traitors. Allowing Israel and Turkey to do as they like as long as it advances Russian interests. Now they are arming the sunnis in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere too. I swear they would sell out their own Momma if they thought it would advance their agenda. No integrity whatsoever. That’s why India, Cuba and Iran smartened up and diversified their allegiances. The Chinese are not stupid either, they are watching. They know that a few crumbs from NATO and Russia will play the 6!+(# for them too.
if turkey attack Telrifat . the SAA and allies should attach al bab and all of Euphrate shield area. till turkey border . Turks has to be thugaht lesson. SAA and allies should not fully depend on Russia its Syrian territory not Russian or turkey.
with out russian help you can do j….shit rafik bey. you can try and lose what you got left
It’s looking more and more like this stalemate of a war is actually the best thing possible for Russia and Putin, with a war in progress it means neither the Saudis or Iranians can build their gas pipelines into the EU, and even better, there’s no out of pocket expenses needed to pay for the mini war that’s actually stopping the pipeline project going ahead. The money just comes out of the proportion of military budget expenditure that’s normally allocated to research testing and training, meaning the war actually costs Russia nothing extra, it just couldn’t get any better as far as Putin’s concerned, if it wasn’t for the odd Russian soldier losing his life every once and a while we could call it the perfect war Russia really wants to have, no sorry, I mean NEEDS to have. Once the war in Syria winds down someone will build a gas pipeline into the EU, and though the Russians would much prefer an Iranian pipeline to a Saudis pipeline, they’d much prefer no pipeline at all, they don’t want to share their market with anyone at all, sharing the EU market means a huge loss of revenue, and no one like getting less pay do they?. A continuation of the war in Syria means no loss of revenue for Russia, ending the war in Syria ,means a huge loss of revenue for Russia, and the war itself isn’t costing the Russians one red cent, so we have to start reconsidering Putin’s motives when he does certain things that just seem to prolong the war in Syria, instead of trying to either resolve it peacefully or end it militarily.