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Moscow, Damascus demand US forces to leave Syria

Moscow, Damascus demand US forces to leave Syria

US forcesDamscus : A Syrian-Russian joint coordination committee has demanded the US forces to withdraw from Syria, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

The Joint Coordination Committee for Return of Syrian Refugees said in a statement that the US must withdraw its forces, which are illegally present on Syrian soil, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Syrian government in coordination with the Russian side will organise humanitarian convoys as of the beginning of March to help return the displaced Syrians in the Rukban camp in southeastern Syria to their areas, said the statement.

The US forces in the al-Tanf area are preventing aid convoys from reaching the camp, which is controlled by the rebels near the Syrian-Jordanian border, it said.

The humanitarian convoys would reach the area in coordination with the UN, the statement added.

The Syrian and Russian sides opened two humanitarian corridors near al-Tanf for the evacuation of people from al-Rukban on February 19.

The statement charged that the US forces in al-Tanf were preventing the people from leaving the camp.

The Rukban camp is home to 50,000 displaced Syrians, who are suffering from the harsh humanitarian situation because of the cold weather and lack of supplies.

—IANS

Turkey-Syria talks underway at ‘lower levels’: Erdogan

Turkey-Syria talks underway at ‘lower levels’: Erdogan

 

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Ankara : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that talks were underway at lower levels with Syria, ruling out any contact at higher levels with Damascus.

 

“Talks at lower levels must continue with Syria even if not between leaders,” Erdogan said during a live-broadcast interview with Turkish broadcaster TRT, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

Turkey broke all contacts with the Syrian government at the start of the civil war in 2011 and sought to oust President Bashar al-Assad by offering support to some rebel groups.

During their last meeting in Moscow on January 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin encouraged Erdogan to establish some form of contact with the Syrian leadership, invoking a Turkish-Syrian security pact signed in 1998 that could be reactivated to address the security concerns of the two neighbours.

—IANS