Syria: Turkey must pull troops to revive historic security pact
2019-01-27 20:42:24
Syria said on Saturday it was ready to revive a landmark security deal with Turkey that normalised ties for two decades before the 2011 conflict if Ankara pulled its troops out of the war-torn country and stopped backing rebels, according to a Reuters report.
In a foreign ministry statement, Syria said it was committed to the 1998 Adana accord, which forced Damascus to stop harboring the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for decades.
“Syria remains committed to this accord and all the agreements relating to fighting terror in all its forms by the two countries,” said a foreign ministry statement released on state media.
Damascus, however, said reviving the Adana deal, which Russian President Vladimir Putin raised during his summit meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week, depended on Ankara ending its backing of rebels seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar al Assad and pulling its troops out of northwestern Syria.
Turkey has carved a sphere of influence in an opposition-held enclave in northwestern Syria around Idlib province with the help of mainstream Arab rebels who it backs. Its troops monitor a buffer zone in the province under a deal with Russia and Iran.
AFP.