Turkish defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that Ankara is in talks with Russia on the transfer of 18 captured soldiers of the Syrian army. This is reported by the TRT TV.
No further details are provided.
The situation in northern Syria worsened in early October, when Turkey launched Operation Source of Peace, directed against Kurdish troops. On the seventeenth, by agreement with the United States, Ankara suspended operations so that the Kurds could withdraw their units from the 30-km buffer zone on the border.
Last week, Presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan held six-hour talks, following which a ten-point memorandum of understanding was signed.
The document provides for the entry on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey outside the zone of operation “Source of Peace” of the Russian military police and the Syrian border service. They will facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish troops and their weapons 30 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border, as well as carry out patrols with the Turks.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the early withdrawal of Kurds from the security zone in Syria. Later, reconnaissance flights and demining began on the routes of Turkish-Russian control.