Russia, Turkey leaders hold talks on fate of Syria border

The talks between Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Russia’s Vladimir Putin are likely to be crucial in determining arrangements
along the Syrian-Turkish border, where Ankara demands a long “safe zone”
cleared of Kurdish fighters.
Russia has strengthened its power broker role in
Syria, especially after the U.S. abruptly decided to pull its troops out of
northeast Syria two weeks ago. That pullout opened the way for Turkey to launch
its offensive against Kurdish fighters on Oct. 9, which has been paused the
past five days under the U.S.-brokered cease-fire
Seeking protection, the Kurds turned to the Syrian
government and its main ally, Russia. The Syrian army has advanced into parts
of the area, and Russia deployed its troops in some areas to act as a buffer
force.
Russia has powerful sway with all the multiple
parties vying for the border. Turkey has suggested it wants Russia to persuade
the Syrian government to cede it control over a major chunk of territory in the
northeast. The Kurds are hoping Russia can keep Turkey out and help preserve
some of the autonomy they carved out for themselves during Syria’s civil war.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has vowed to reunite
all the territory under Damascus’ rule. On Tuesday, Assad called Erdogan “a
thief” and said he was ready to support any “popular resistance” against
Turkey’s invasion.
“We are in the middle of a battle and the right
thing to do is to rally efforts to lessen the damages from the invasion and to
expel the invader sooner or later,” he told troops during a visit to the
northwestern province of Idlib.
The immediate question was the fate of the
U.S.-brokered cease-fire, which was to run out at 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) Tuesday
evening.
Erdogan said 1,300 Syrian Kurdish fighters had yet
to vacate a stretch of the border as required under the deal. He said 800
fighters had left so far. The Kurdish-led force has said it will carry out the
pullout.
If it doesn’t, Erdogan warned Tuesday, “our
offensive will continue from where it left off, with a much greater
determination.”
“There is no place for the (Kurdish fighters) in
Syria’s future. We hope that with Russia’s cooperation, we will rid the region
of separatist terror,” he said.
Under the accord, the Kurdish fighters are to vacate
a stretch of territory roughly 120 kilometers (75 miles) wide and 30 kilometers
(20 miles) deep between the Syrian border towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn.
But that leaves the situation in the rest of the
northeastern border unclear. Currently, other than the few places where Syrian
troops have deployed, they are solely in the hands of the Kurdish-led fighters
— a situation Ankara has repeatedly said it cannot tolerate. Turkey considers
the fighters terrorists, because of their links to Kurdish insurgents inside
Turkey.
Turkey wants to control a “safe zone” extending more
than 400 kilometers (250 miles) along the border, from the Euphrates River to
the Iraqi border. There, it plans to resettle about 2 million of the roughly
3.6 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey.
Russia sent a new signal to Turkey about the need to
negotiate directly with Assad. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that only
Damascus could authorize the Turkish troop presence on the Syrian territory.
Assad gave a symbolic show of Damascus’ goal of
regaining the border, visiting troops in northwestern Idlib province, where his
forces are battling rebels. Idlib is adjacent to an enclave along the border
that Turkey captured several years ago in another incursion. Turkey also has
observation points inside Idlib, negotiated with Russia, to monitor a
cease-fire there between the government and opposition fighters and jihadi groups.
Assad called Erdogan “a thief, he stole the
factories and the wheat and the oil in cooperation with Daesh (the Islamic
State group) and now is stealing the land.”
He said his government had offered a clemency to
Kurdish fighters — whom it considers separatists — to “ensure that everyone is
ready to resist the aggression” and fight the Turkish assault.
Syrian state media reported Tuesday that government
forces entered new areas in Hassakeh province at the far eastern end of the
border, under the arrangement with the Kurds.
Turkey’s incursion into Syria has led to an
international outcry, which has in turn enraged Erdogan, who has accused his
NATO allies of not standing by Turkey.
European Council President Donald Tusk on Tuesday
condemned the incursion and called on Turkey — which is a candidate for EU
membership — to pull out troops.
“No one is fooled by the so-called cease-fire,” Tusk
told EU lawmakers. Any course other than a Turkish withdrawal “means
unacceptable suffering, a victory for Daesh (the Islamic State group), and a
serious threat to European security,” he said.
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
proposed the establishment of an internationally controlled security zone in
Syria, “with the inclusion of Turkey and Russia.”
Meanwhile, U.S. troops pulling out of Syria were
heading to neighboring Iraq, but Iraq’s military said Tuesday the troops did
not have permission to stay in the country.
The Iraqi military in a statement said the American
troops currently withdrawing from Syria have acquired permission from the Iraqi
Kurdish regional government to enter Iraq to later be transferred out of the
country. It added that these troops do not have any approval to stay in Iraq.
The statement appears to contradict U.S. Defense Secretary
Mark Esper who has said that under the current plan, all U.S. troops leaving
Syria will go to western Iraq and the military will continue to conduct
operations against the Islamic State group to prevent its resurgence.
Esper said he has spoken to his Iraqi counterpart
about the plan to shift the more than 700 troops leaving Syria into western
Iraq.