Turkey and Russia have agreed what they called a "historic" deal aimed at keeping Kurdish forces away from Syria's border with Turkey.

Turkey this month launched an offensive to drive out the Kurdish forces from their southern frontier and create a buffer zone.

Russia is an ally of Syria's Bashar al-Assad and has raised concern about foreign interference in Syria.

Turkey and Russia will now conduct joint patrols on the border.

The deal comes after the US announced a sudden and unexpected withdrawal and analysts see it as cementing Turkish and Russian influence in the region.

For Turkey it means retaining control over areas gained at the expense of the Kurds while for Russia its forces alongside Syria's will oversee the rest of the border.

Hours after the deal was announced Turkey said there was no need to re-launch its offensive, which was on hold due to a ceasefire, as Kurdish fighters had withdrawn from the Turkish "safe zone".

Source: bbc.com

BDST: 1210 HRS, OCT 23, 2019
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