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Conflict in Syria

Russia, Turkey to monitor implementation of joint memorandum on Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the memorandum after talks in Sochi on Tuesday

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Turkey and Russia will carry out joint patrolling in Syria, says Erdogan

SOCHI, October 22. /TASS/. Moscow and Ankara will create a joint mechanism for monitoring and verifying the implementation of the joint memorandum on Syria approved on the outcomes of the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on Tuesday.

"A joint monitoring and verification mechanism will be established to oversee and coordinate the implementation of this memorandum," the document says.

The leaders discussed Operation Peace Spring, launched by Turkey on October 9. The Erdogan government claimed that its goal is to clear the border area of what it calls ‘terrorists’ (Turkey’s broad label of the Kurdish forces) and establish a 30 km-long buffer zone in Syria’s north, where over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey would resettle. Ankara’s incursion into Syria has triggered an outcry in the region and across the world.

On October 17, the United States, represented by Vice President Mike Pence, reached a deal with Erdogan to pause Operation Peace Spring. Turkey consented to a 120-hour ceasefire so that Kurdish units making up the coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) could leave the areas of the border security zone that Ankara is attempting to create. The ceasefire ended at 10pm Moscow time on Tuesday.

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