Erdogan-Putin Agreement: Kurds to be removed from Syria's 'safe zone'

(Patria) – Leaders of Turkey and Russia reached an agreement on Tuesday to push Syrian Kurdish forces 30 km from the Turkish border.

In accordance with the agreement reached by the two leaders in Sochi, Syrian and Russian forces will be mobilized with the aim of pushing back Kurdish YPG forces during a six-day operation.

The agreement was reached after the expiration of a five-day ceasefire brokered by the US.

'The main goal of the operation is to remove the PKK/YPG terrorist organizations from the area and enable the return of Syrian refugees,' Erdogan stated at a joint press conference with Putin.

Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization due to its ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which organizes rebellions in southeastern Turkey. Official Ankara has long sought to create a 'safe zone' on the Turkish border in northern Syria.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, commented on his Twitter profile that 'the outcome of the Putin-Erdogan meeting in Sochi shows how Erdogan skillfully uses the US and Russia against each other to maximize gains for Ankara – Turkey has obtained the safe zone it desired,' Euronews reports.

Erdogan commented that the operation 'also guarantees Syria's territorial integrity and political unity... We have never had an interest in Syria's territory and sovereignty.'

He also said that Ankara would cooperate with Moscow on the safe return of Syrian refugees currently in Turkey.

Both countries welcomed the agreement as a major achievement, claiming it would stop the bloodshed in the region.