SDF Commander thanks Russia on the agreement with Turkey, expresses reservations on some items
Northern Syria – North-Press Agency
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander-in-Chief General Mazloum Abdi, in a phone conversation with the Russian Defense Minister, on Wednesday, thanked Moscow for its agreement with Ankara regarding the withdrawal of SDF from the border areas with Turkey, which led to the stoppage of the military invasion, which was launched by Turkish President Erdogan, on the 9th of this month, expressing reservations on some of the terms of the agreement.
The General Command of SDF has said in a statement that Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and Chief of General Staff of the Russian Army Valery Gerasimov, have made a televised call with Gen. Abdi, during which the latter thanked Moscow for its work to “defuse the war in our regions and spare civilians its ravages”, expressing at the same time “his reservation to some items of the agreement, which need discussions and dialogues in order to bring the views closer.”
In another context, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that there is no need to establish a safe zone under international protection in northern Syria, noting that the Russian-Turkish agreement reached in the city of Sochi, is the solution in the region. This came in a statement via “RIA Novosti” agency, by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Vershinin, regarding the recent agreement on the eastern Euphrates region in Syria.
Vershinin said: “We do not see the need to establish a safe zone under the international protection in northeastern Syria, the Russian-Turkish agreement in Sochi is the solution.”
The German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has proposed the establishment of a safe zone under international control in northern Syria.
While she said that the situation in Syria seriously affected the security interests of Europe and Germany, and acknowledged that they have taken the role of “spectator” so far regarding the situation there.
Regarding the results of the Turkish military invasion in northern Syria, the president of the Executive Board of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Ilham Ahmed, has accused Turkey of using phosphorus against civilians during its military invasion against SDF in northern Syria.
Speaking to the United States congressional committee on Wednesday, Ms. Ahmed said: “Turkey has displaced 300,000 people from their homes, 250 people have been killed, most of them children, and 300 people are still missing. Massacres against civilians were committed and phosphorus chemical gas was used against civilians, but we cannot analyze this because of the lack of possibilities.”
On the 9th of October, Turkey announced the start of a unilateral military invasion in northern Syria, which was widely criticized by the Syrian authorities and many others of Arab and Western countries. The ceasefire truce of 120 hours was reached upon US-Turkish agreement on the 17th of the same month, on a condition of SDF withdrawal from the border area with Turkey.
In the last hours of the truce Russia intervened, and through a Russian-Turkish agreement, the Turkish military invasion was completely stopped until the full withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces from the borders with Turkey, as Russian-Turkish patrols were conducted on the border, while Syrian government forces received some areas on the Syrian-Turkish borders.