The border areas where the Syrian army will deploy after the Sochi Memorandum

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at the end of his talks yesterday in Sochi, with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Moscow and Ankara, which included resolving the issues of the comprehensive situation in Syria.

Article 5 of the signed memorandum states that “as of 12.00 hours on 23/10/2019, units of the Russian military police and Syrian border guards are entering the Syrian side of the Syrian-Turkish border outside the area of ​​Operation“ Spring of Peace ”to help withdraw the Kurdish factions and their weapons from The Syrian-Turkish border to a distance of 30 km, which should take place within 150 hours after 12.00 hours on October 23, 2019, when joint Russian-Turkish security patrols begin in the border area at a depth of 10 km west and east of the operation of the spring of peace except the city of Qamishli.

In other words, the Syrian border guards will work with the Russian military police along the border (outside the area of ​​the spring of peace), what role will it play, and where can the Syrian army be stationed?

The areas where the Syrian army will be located are outside the 120 km (32 km) spring of peace, and within 120 km is the responsibility of the Russian military police and the army.

The rest of the parties are the responsibility of the Syrian army (border guards) and the Russian military police.

The Syrian army has definitely reached the Syrian border except for the Euphrates Shield area, which Erdogan had previously carried out, while the area west of the Euphrates River didn’t see an agreement at this moment.

Regarding the future of the region, the area of ​​the spring of peace might be a temporary area, which is phased and the Syrian army will be deployed according to the 1998 Adana agreement, which was mentioned within the terms of the agreement”.

The statement of the Syrian President, stressed that Idlib must return “In the event of the return of Idlib, we have come a long way to return to normal, Syria remains small hotspots of terrorism”.

Nassar pointed out that the agreement laid out broad guidelines, including “the elimination of terrorism and the return of Syrian forces to all borders, and the removal of military forces inside Syria, US or French or others that entered illegally”.

As for the area of ​​Tel Rifaat and Manbej, Nassar stressed that the alternative is the Syrian army and the Russian military police.

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Syrian border guards are ready to conduct joint patrols along the border with Russian military police, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

He said: “President Assad thanked Vladimir Putin, and expressed full support for the results of the work, as well as the readiness of the Syrian border guards with the Russian military police to go to the border”.

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed the Syrian President about the provisions of the Russian-Turkish memorandum, stressing that the main task is to restore the territorial integrity of Syria and continue joint efforts on the political track, including the work of the Constitutional Committee.