Akar: YPG/PKK withdrawal goes as planned

Turkey's deal with Moscow on the withdrawal of PKK-linked People's Protection Units (YPG) terrorists from northern Syria is right on track, Turkey's national defense minister said Saturday (October 26).

Everything is normal, and the deal is going as planned, Hulusi Akar told reporters in Brussels following a NATO defense ministers' meeting.

Akar said the YPG/PKK withdrawal, in line with the deal reached in Sochi, Russia this week, must be completed as of next Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 18.00 local time (1500GMT).

Rebuffing ethnic cleansing allegations meant to smear Turkey's counter-terrorism operation, he said people should think twice before making such "baseless, unethical" claims.

He said the operation was fully transparent in line with international law and that operational details were shared with fellow defense ministers at the NATO meeting.

Akar stressed that the operation in northern Syria was free of any inhumane practices such as human rights violations or the use of chemical weapons.

Stressing that Turkey's fight against terrorism continues with determination, he said: "Terrorists are our targets. The Kurds are our brothers."

On Tuesday, in Russia's Black Sea resort town of Sochi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin reached a deal under which YPG/PKK terrorists will pull back 30 kilometers south of Turkey's border with Syria within 150 hours, and security forces from Turkey and Russia will mount joint patrols there.

Based on DS