Putin proposes old yet novel idea for Turkey-Syria crisis
Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested reactivating the 1998 Adana Accord to prevent Turkey from intervening east of the Euphrates River in Syria.
After the latest Turkey-Russia summit, the debate over a buffer zone between Syria and Turkey turned to the 1998 Adana Accord between Ankara and Damascus on cooperation against terrorism.
In their Jan. 23 meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the latter's obligations to ease tensions in northwestern Syria at Idlib, which is under the control of jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Putin brought up the accord and Erdogan said, “Mr. Putin, put this on the agenda. The Adana pact is an important matter. Turkey must work on it. I believe it … will make use of Turkey’s weight in the region.”
