Kurdish SDF says it will comply with Moscow-Ankara deal & withdraw from Turkish border

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to withdraw from the Syria-Turkey border, in compliance with a deal brokered by Russia. The Kurdish group said it agreed to pull out after extensive consultations with Moscow.

The Kurdish-led fighters said the Syrian Army will deploy along the border with Turkey, and called on Moscow to initiate negotiations between Damascus and Kurdish leaders in the country’s northeast.

A deal between Turkey and Russia inked earlier this week in Sochi gives Kurdish forces 150 hours, starting at noon on October 23, to withdraw 30km (about 20 miles) from the border. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to clear the area of any militias if they do not leave by October 29, when the deal is set to expire.

Under the agreement, Russian military police will supervise the withdrawal of Kurdish forces and heavy weapons.
Ankara launched an incursion into northeastern Syria on October 9, following US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out US forces stationed in the region.

The assault on the Kurdish forces – which Turkey views as terrorists – was halted under a US-brokered ceasefire. The Sochi accord expanded the scope of the agreement.

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