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Russia informs Turkey about withdrawal of Kurdish units from Syria's north

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey trusts Russia on the issue of withdrawal of Kurdish units from Syria's north but Ankara is ready to counter them if necessary

ANKARA, October 29. /TASS/. Russia has informed Turkey about the withdrawal of Kurdish units with heavy weaponry from Syria's north, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense said in a statement released on Tuesday.

"The Russian Federation informed us that after the expiration of the 150-hour term, People's Protection Units YPG withdrew with heavy weaponry from the Turkish-Syrian border beyond the 30-kilometer zone, except for Manbij and Tell Rifaat," the statement said.

The ministry also noted the start of "the process of locating and clearance of mines to the west and east of the location of Operation Peace Spring, excluding Qamishli." The process is carried out on territories in 10 km from the border, where joint Turkish-Russian patrolling will be held afterwards.

Turkey trusts Russia on the issue of withdrawal of Kurdish units from Syria's north but Ankara is ready to counter them if necessary, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday after talks in the Astana format with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

"Turkey trusts Russia in the framework of implementing the Sochi memorandum, but we do not trust terrorists. If they do not leave the assigned territories, we are ready to take necessary measures," Cavusoglu said.