Russia, Turkey to Share Control of NE Syria

Beirut, Oct 22 (AP) Russian and Turkish leaders have made a deal to share control of Syria's northeast that requires Kurdish fighters to clear the entire length of the Syria-Turkey border.

The deal allows Turkey to maintain control of areas it pushed into launching its offensive into Syria earlier this month.

The agreement allows Russian and Syrian troops to control the rest of the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also agreed that their troops will conduct joint patrols of the border area.

The agreement gives Kurdish fighters another 150 hours beginning Wednesday afternoon to clear all remaining areas alongside the 440-kilometer Turkey-Syria border.

Earlier Tuesday, Kurdish forces said they completed their pullout from a zone along the Syrian border as required under a U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal hours before it was set to expire Tuesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey and Russia have reached a deal in which Syrian Kurdish fighters will move 30 kilometers (18 miles) away from a border area in northeast Syria within 150 hours.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, Erdogan said, the 150-hour time period would begin at noon Wednesday.

Turkey and Russia would then conduct joint patrols, he said.

The agreement came after the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish-led forces withdrew from an area in northern Syria that Turkey demanded be cleared of Kurdish fighters.

The White House says U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized $4.5 million to support Syrian rescue workers known as the White Helmets.

Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said Tuesday that Trump is urging U.S. allies and partners to also support the Syrian Civil Defense group.

She says the funding, approved Monday, is part of the United States' continued support for the organization and its work in Syria.

Grisham says that during the eight-year conflict in Syria, the White Helmets have rescued more than 115,000 people. Because the group works in opposition-held areas, they are almost exclusively the only ones to offer rescue services.

The Syrian government and Russia have accused the White Helmets of cooperating with radical insurgent groups.

The White Helmets have enjoyed backing and received finances and training from the U.S. and other Western nations for years.

A senior Trump administration official says Syrian Kurdish-led forces have withdrawn from an area in northern Syria that Turkey wants cleared of Kurdish fighters.

That would mean the Kurdish forces have complied with the terms of a cease-fire in northeast Syria, just hours before it was set to expire Tuesday night.

The five-day pause in Turkey's invasion of northeastern Syria was negotiated by Vice President Mike Pence and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan has said 1,300 Syrian Kurdish fighters had yet to vacate a stretch of the border, as required under the deal. The cease-fire was to run out at 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) Tuesday evening.

The official says the Kurdish-led force's commander notified the White House of the withdrawal in a letter. The official spoke to reporters in Washington on condition of anonymity because the contents of the letter have not yet been publicly disclosed.

A senior Syrian Kurdish official says his forces have finished withdrawing from a border area before the end of a U.S.- brokered cease-fire.

But Redur Khalil says Turkish troops and allies are continuing military operations in northeastern Syria outside the withdrawal zone.

Khalil says Tuesday his forces have abided by the cease-fire that is set to expire in a few hours, pulling fighters out of a 120-kilometer (75-mile) stretch of land between the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn.

But he said Turkish attacks are continuing outside of that area, capturing 15 Kurdish villages outside of the town of Kobani, and continuing to advance.

Turkey had threatened to relaunch its offensive if the withdrawal was not carried out. Ankara has agreed to the specified zone but Turkish officials said they still want to clear Kurdish fighters from their entire shared border. (AP)

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