now with dorian jones joining us from istanbul good morning dorian what are you hearing about the agreement between the kurds and damascus could syrian government forces soon be deployed in the north of syria well we're not hearing any details on the precise arrangement in fact there hasn't been any official confirmation by damascus that a deal has been struck other than that they are deploying forces towards the border with turkey they are believed to have moved into the town of cop army all right on turkey's border very strategically important but they are the understanding of this deal is that they will ultimately secure the whole of syria's northern border with turkey but as i said there is real no details on what will make the details of how this will be carried out but it's be i think the understanding is that the syrian kurdish forces are accepting that they are now falling under the control of the damascus regime if that one statement from a prominent kurdish leaders said we don't trust these people were very unhappy this is a very bitter pill to take but the alternative w

way of the russian president. our correspondent dorian jones is covering this story from istanbul dorian the russian and turkish leaders have hatched a plan for what they think should become of northern syria what exactly they agreed on well this concerns an air around 450 kilometers long in syria now under this deal 120 kilometers that have been already taken by turkish military in the weeklong operation that has been consolidated turkey will continue to hold this territory now the rest of this area which turkey was planning to take control off to a depth of 30 kilometers now that will be put under the control of syrian regime forces and russia they will move up to the border and in the next 150 hours the syrian kurdish forces will have to withdraw from this region to 30 kilometers away from the turkish front here moscow and damascus will guarantee that we've drawn once that has been completed they will be then turkish and russian military patrols along a 10 kilometer strip that borders turkey to guarantee the security under this agreement though it is not clear the verification

it's totally ok to send a letter like this ok dorian jones and so we have presidents here in washington who doesn't seem to care about much about what's going on in syria he sends his vice president to turkey to issue threats it doesn't look as though president cares about u.s. threats and the current sanctions don't even seem to be biting well well absolutely in fact washington isn't really seen as a player anymore in the region given trump's apparent step back and washing his hands of this region who really counts now is moscow and while these talks with between earth one and pence were going on a russian delegation was in the same presidential complex having talks with their turkish colleagues ahead of a crucial meeting next week we've heard one in the russian president president vladimir putin at the black sea resort of sochi moscow it's a real play here and crucially for moscow is appearing to be calling time on this operation what that means for turkey so far more concern that whatever washington says at the moment is worried about moscow and how to deal with the growin

influence in syria correspondent dorian jones has more from istanbul on what's been agreed even russia and turkey are backing rival sides in the syrian civil war what we have seen in the last couple of years is. putin increasingly working together because there is a realisation that they have to work together to bring an end to this syrian civil war which is in their all of their interests now this deal is another part of this process that was a potential flashpoint the turkish forces could ultimately get into a shooting war with the syrian regime forces further instability in syria but that deal this present deal does seem to have ended that threat it is part of a process of restoring stability to this area the fact that they are now that the kurds are now beholden to withdraw from the from the border will be a key part of turkey's objectives in this operation and we will now see turkey russian forces on the ground in forcing a buffer zone as part of that process again bringing the 2 countries closer together but beyond that this cooperation is also working towards bringing an end to

rio of 2015. joining me now is our correspondents dorian jones in istanbul and here in berlin our chief political correspondent melinda during missed off with you know what happened to this refugee day why is it not working. well this all started when the turkish president type gave a warning that he's ready to open his borders to europe if they do not address turkey's refugee concerns why turkey is now warning about these fears it is ready for another mass influx of refugees into turkey from the syrian province of idlib which is the last rebel enclave and could well full to syrian forces in the coming weeks possibly months turkey says it cannot take any more refugees it needs europe to join in working together to resolve this this is tokyo issuing a law the whole of europe on these refugees going to greece is seen as part of the warning and let him do what germany and the e.u. offering to get it once again behind this refugee agreement that they made with the country between the lines the money that's not what the german interior minister is saying in so many words but if you loo

let's take the story now to turkey our correspondent dorian jones is standing by in istanbul good evening to you dorian what kind of operation are we looking at here dorian we just saw in that tweet from richard the goal here is to neutralize terrorist threats but is he talking about the terrorists being the kurds or is he talking about the terrorists being the isis prisoners that are in the area . you speak to touch officials they'll say it's both but let's be clear the primary optics of this operation is to drive back the syrian kurdish militia that has been on turkey's boulder for several years except that this group is a terrorist organization linked to a kurdish insurgency in the site turkey and they say that they have been committed to removing this threat from its from its border and it will point to the fact that it has getting support from the international community saying that they are respecting turkey's right to protect its bolt and now this operation is going to be a major operation.

correspondent dorian jones is standing by for us to tell us more about this turkish military operation. well the ground phrase of the operation has started according to a statement from the turkish ministry that was after a sustained day of bombardment by turkish fighter bombers and turkish should tillery that hit a whole variety of of towns and settlements all across the syrian border of this syrian port on the syrian kurdish region all the main towns are believed to have been hit by strikes as well as targets of belonging to the syrian kurdish militia we also according to a statement released by turkey's defense ministry said $141.00 targets have been hit and underlines the scale of the operation that is unfolding it had been expected be far more limited at least in the early stages but this indicates that the turkish government all keen to get on with this operation. and underlines how large an operation this is going to be absolutely does indeed seem far more expansive than rapids than many observers had at the haps though and with that what do you then hearing from northern syria well w

washington d.c. and dorian jones is in istanbul a good evening to both of you are going to let me start with you the turkish president saying turkey will never declare a cease fire and negotiate with kurdish fighters so what are pompei of the secretary of state and pence the vice president what are they hoping to achieve with this trip. well white house officials told us that vice president pans and secretary of state pompei a wouldn't be having to turkey if the white house wasn't confident that they can achieve their goal and their goal is a ceasefire in syria but this was 2 days ago and the vice president and the secretary of state are still in washington waiting and president trump told us today that they might be going to morrow or today but maybe tomorrow so it seems that the white house is not confident no more that they can a mission can be successful durian the united states has already imposed economic sanctions on turkey what more can it do to get its message across. well those sanctions were broadly dismissed by turkey's financial markets and turkey's political leadership as

dorian jones and estoppel welcome dorian what else have you had well we are what we understand from this agreement is that the syrian kurdish militia the white p.g. have agreed to withdraw all 30 kilometers away from the turkish boulder along the strip of several 100 kilometers now this was a key demand of the turkish president type one he did say that the operation would cease once they did withdraw so it does appear that this he's meeting a key turkish dumond now we understand it suffer 120 hours kurdish militia will be given to a withdrawal we understand from vice president pence that is even starting now as we speak so it does appear that now that if they do comply with this agreement and turkey will and permanently its operation expectations of this meeting had been low so what changed. well absolutely no one saw this coming in fact all the briefing ahead of this meeting was that there would be no progress no change in turkey's policy quite what happened in that meeting is unclear when i don't know it going in any indication of what was actually said but it is understood. that

that's correspondent dorian jones is standing by hey dorian so there we have a turkish president. making threats what's he trying to get at that i think this is all about money and the comments by young clued the european union president yesterday where he said the european union would not provide any money for what turkey's plans of a safe zone in syria turkey want to create a 30 kilometer deep several 100 kilometer long a buffer zone in which he says he will house millions of us iraqis currently living in turkey now turkey is looking for the european union to pay for that is a price tag of over $20000000000.00 euros and the comments by you in kuwait he's condemned this operation call for restraint said that we will not give a single penny for these plans has provoked this angry response from one because a key part of that once time is that the european union ultimately pay for what it once said is a $1000000.00 new homes in this syrian reach area that turkey plans to take control ok stand by dorian because since turkey launched its offensive on wednesday civilians have started feeling

. so why does what let's bring dorian jones in istanbul into the cold so should. i just washington seem to have so little influence on. well president trump did hit turkey of sanctions at the beginning of the week but they were largely dismissed by turkey's financial markets and turkey's political leadership seen as basically symbolic because despite all the rhetoric that has been coming out of the crisis occasional criticisms from president trump wants to present turkish president heard one still sees trump as their main man in washington they're really their only ally in washington and while mike pence vice president pence was expected to warn one in these talks that if these talks fail than the pressure growing in the u.s. congress for much more draconian sanctions will only grow and will likely pass and maybe even override the president trying to veto uncross of the calculation that this will all take time and even if they even if it is a bigger vote and trying to veto the turkish military operation will have probably been completed by then turkey east dipping up its operation

from our correspondent dorian jones you standing by for us in istanbul good evening to you dorian so what are you hearing from beach well like you said the syrian state media have confirmed the syrian forces have entered and this is part of the deal with the syrian kurds whereby towns and cities under they control would be opened up to the syrian regime forces the same time we getting unconfirmed reports that there have been some clashes on the outskirts the city of syrian rebels that up backed by the turkish turkish forces earlier today president one said that beach would be the next target of the turkish forces in this ongoing operation why mom bitch because mum but she says he is among the most important cities in this area it's located on a key highway that connects syria to iraq and to iran a very important supply route and beyond that it is the gateway to aleppo syria 2nd city so all forces and people parties involved in the syrian civil war have been battling for control of this and that's why it makes it the most likely flashpoint between turkish backed forces and syrian regi

the latest now from istanbul we're joined now by dorian jones our correspondent there good morning a dorian we have the turkish president saying he will never accept a cease fire now what does this mean for the visit of u.s. vice president pence he's due to arrive today. well vice president pence is facing a very tough sell the president has been very clear that there will be no stepping back in this operation and that's why because one says his operation is all about guaranteeing the safety and ultimately the future of turkey and in many ways president one has put his reputation on the line in this operation at a time when he's very politically vulnerable maybe the most vulnerable he has been in more than 15 years in power because there is mounting discontent in the country over the presence of over 3 and a half 1000000 syrian refugees and a key part of this operation is to ultimately return between one and 2000000 refugees that's why turkey nice expand this operation create this 500 kilometer long 30 kilometer deep safe zone as to allow the return of these refugees now mike pence

either. let's return now to our top story we have standing by our correspondent dorian jones on the story turkish president reza type area won and russian president vladimir putin meeting to discuss syria the fate of kurds there dorian in istanbul with the view dorian what have they said at the press conference that these 2 leaders just held. well the press conference in fact is still continuing but after the 2 presidents spoke the president urged one described in a stark agreement had been reached with a memorandum of understanding being agreed on between the 2 leaders seems to be a comprehensive deal to address turkey security concerns and the wider situation in this area of northeast syria which has been the scene of a turkish military operation or the key components of the deal what we understand is the 2 sides have agreed that 10 kilometer buffer zone will be created from the turkish border into syria which will be jointly per trolled by turkish or russian forces to protect turkey from its this threat posed by the syrian kurdish militia which onkar considers as terrorists now o

and let's get some analysis on this story in istanbul we have our correspondent dorian jones standing by for us in here in the studio we have heading reka with us from the german council on foreign relations good to have you both dorian let's start with you there in istanbul do we know anything about the talks so far and whether turkey really would agree to a cease fire. well we don't really have any information about the talks other than they are believed to be continuing in fact turkish officials have been playing down any hope of any kind of breakthrough in say suggesting this will just be a frank exchange of views on chrome washington really are at loggerheads over this operation and relations have been plummeting ever since it was launched and following sanctions being enforced by trump earlier this week and turkey's message and a message from the turkish president as your type urged on was that we will not in this operation until all our objectives are achieved and dismissed calls from president trump of some kind of mediation saying we don't sit down with terrorists so turkey r

our correspondent you are shadows in moscow dorian jones is in istanbul and yuri i'd like to begin with you walk us through what exactly russia and turkey have agreed to here well russian foreign minister sergei lavrov presented to after the talks in sochi here in russia a plan which includes several aspects of points i think 3 of them are essential 1st to moscow and ancora have agreed to that to the kurdish militias would to pull back 30 kilometers away from the turkish syrian border 2nd to love russian military police and syrian border guards would be deployed to on the syrian side of the border with turkey outside of the zone of turkish military operation and 3rd target extends to the ceasefire forms of the north from syria which was initially scheduled for tonight by another 10150 hours or more than 6 days which is pretty long so dorian what does this mean for turkey is offensive in northern syria. well for now at least it is is on hold and i think that this agreement in many ways what it sees is the consolidation of turkey's gains turkey has basically taken sick control of a b

down to turkey to be correspondent dorian jones joins me now from istanbul good evening to you dorian the turkish military operation it has now gone from just an air assault to a ground assault what do we know i mean troops forces have actually crossed the border now right well that's right the turkish defense ministry in a statement has said that the ground operation has begun saying soldiers have crossed across the syrian border into these towns help.

willingness to accept turkey's security zone. for more on the story let's go to our correspondent dorian jones who's following the latest for us from istanbul hi dorian the kurdish led administration in northern syria has accused turkey of violating this cease fire what is the latest that you can tell us. well it's very hard to verify these claims but we do know from substantial reports all through the day the fighting has continued in these crucial town of rochelle i mean there has been have reports of heavy gunfire and also sporadic use of artillery presumably from the turkish forces now anchor insists no this isn't true the ceasefire is holding in fact president speaking to reporters said this is all to some from asian one is very keen that this agreement does stick because in many ways it is a it has agreed to everything that turkey sought to achieve from this military operation so on could really does have an interest in it continuing on the ground it does appear that there is still ongoing fighting who actually is responsible that the syrian kurds militia claim it's is mainly the s

last 24 hours so let's get the very latest now from our correspondent dorian jones who is joining us from istanbul dorian what does anyone want to achieve with this planned attack on man bench. well man beaches are crucial to teach equally important city in northern syria it sits upon a vital motorway that connects northern syria with iraq and ultimately with iran and beyond that it is the gateway to aleppo syria's 2nd city so all sides in the syrian conflict have been true striving to get control of mom bitch now that the u.s. have withdrawn it is now seen as a possible leads the turks canal sees it and prisoner one speaking today said that this is returning to its rightful owners and who he means by that are the syrian arab forces that have been fighting the regime who are now allied with turkey the syrian free army and. taking hold of my beach as part of his wider strategy of returning between one and 2000000 syrian refugees back to syria many of them with the opposition to the syrian regime now the syrian regime the mask is determined to take back monday and crucially the syrian

correspondent dorian jones he is in istanbul for us now dorian we're getting reports that fighting is continuing in the region and now we're hearing a kurdish military spokesperson saying that turkey is in fact violating this cease fire agreement what more can you tell us about all this well yes the blame game has already started over these sporadic clashes that have been going on since the morning mainly in this town the important town of ras al-ain kurdish fighters the same blaming the syrian rebels that occur that are fighting with the turkish forces for violating the cease fire and saying that they are defending themselves we haven't had any reaction from uncreate over this other than the turkish president reject the one speaking before prayers saying that they are committed to this deal to create this safe so that will cover several 100 kilometers and be 30 kilometers deep and they say that they see this is a very important step forward but on the ground it does appear that he sees thought isn't at least in the town of rosalin he's not holding with even reports that. a hospital w

our correspondent dorian jones he's on the story for us tonight in is stamboul good evening to you dorian moscow says kurdish forces have left the syrian border area with turkey why are we hearing so little from the other parties involved here well one has said that if that doesn't accept the statements coming from moscow that's despite talk we should fishel is earlier in the day voicing concern things as many as 2000 kurdish militia have not withdrawn beyond the 30 kilometer border agreed in this cease fire agreement and the one that earlier in the week been warning that he would crush the heads of any militia that did not withdraw but following the statements coming from moscow it seems uncle is prepared to give the benefit of the doubt this comes at the same time as we have had these proposed sort of patrol once he came under fire from fire across the turkish side of the boulder and on top of that we've had reports that turkish militias fighting with the turkish forces in heavy fighting with damascus regime full season a number of deaths have been reported but given the spike al

dorian jones who's covering the story for us from istanbul dorian so it is now day 2 of the offensive how fast are turkish forces now advancing in syria well we all seem intensification of the fighting particularly around the towns of telling. these are 2 strategically important towns the heavy fighting last night and that fighting is still continuing today we've took your special forces believed to be leading the operation on top of that strike some artillery continuing to strike all along this several 100 kilometer front that has been opened up by turkey defense minister claiming that they have captured a number of important villages and of a strategic targets at the same time reinforcements are steadily building up pouring into syria also accompanied by elements of the free syrian army a force that has been fighting the syrian regime but now a closely allied with turkish forces. meanwhile dorian we've seen the turkish president lashing out at any criticism of this offensive and he's now threatening to send refugees to the e.u. let's listen to what he said. you can use a w

dorian jones is joining us from istanbul welcome to both of you and dorian i'd like to begin with you what does everyone want to achieve with a potential attack here now on man bitch well for president on this has been a target and objective for well over a year and a mum beach is an extremely important town it's a major hub of communications hub sitting on a main highway connecting syria with iraq and beyond that it is the gateway to syria's 2nd city of aleppo president one has saying that he had this deal with the united states that they would promise the withdrawal of syrian kurdish militia if they took it more than a year ago they said america remains still not deal and now he's saying that we determine now to take the city i return it to what he says is its rightful owners and that his reference to the syrian free syrian army forces which have been fighting with damascus regime and now are allied with turkey the key question here will be will damascus be happy with the handing over of such an important city to rebels that are currently still fighting the regime so a potential fla

correspondent istanbul dorian jones story and what happened 1st off to the e.u. kerr turkey refugee deal why is it not working. well i mean well there is that we have seen this increase in the number of refugees entering greece from turkey it's not at the levels that preceded the refugee. deal but it is causing concern that this deal could be starting to break down because it comes at a time when the turkish president right jeff type one is warning he will open his borders to europe if he does not receive help over refugees and why he made that warning is that turkey could be facing another massive influx of syrian refugees because the last rebel enclave in which borders turkey could be set to be falling to regime forces if that was to happen turkey could be seeing a 1000000 maybe more refugees coming into turkey turkey is were ringing the alarm bell saying we cannot take any more it needs help ok well germany is hearing the alarm bell europe is to what could germany and the e.u. be offering today to to get turkey to once again curb the migration flow as it's directed to do with the

evening dorian let me start with you what more do we know about this cease fire slash suspension slash temporary stop in fighting. well detail full details of this agreement and how it actually worked there are really many of them and that is really fueling growing concerns about whether this deal will actually work how it is that there will be 120 alice sees far during that time syrian kurdish forces will withdraw to 32 kilometers away from turkey's frontier now we have had reactions from the commander of those kurdish forces of the syrian democratic forces general muslim cavani he welcomed the decision but crucially he said that the forces will only withdraw from those that are currently fighting the turkish forces now that will cause concern and because they're on the senate deal is that the kurdish forces will withdraw along the whole strip of 500 kilometers of the turkish front so there's a lot of ambiguity there also there is also concern coming from syrian kurdish political leaders saying we want details of what are the guarantees of safety of our people in this area if th

turkey and the united states g.w. correspondent dorian jones he is in istanbul and oliver salat is on the story for us from washington to both of you good evening oliver let me start with you u.s. president donald trump is describing the agreement the truce that we're seeing between russia and turkey as a major breakthrough made possible by his policy in syria is that true. well that was a very typical a donald trump move essentially what we've been seeing here today is something we've seen before many many times president trump to clear victory on a crisis that he created in the 1st place and let's just remember how this all unfolded there was a phone call between president wretch of type every one of turkey and president trump and as a result of that phone call president trump decided to pull out the u.s. troops of syria that created a power vacuum in syria and essentially and eventually lead it to a deal splitting of syria between russia and turkey and they the outcome of that is that russia became stronger assad became stronger putin became stronger. a lot of course as well and ev

to turkey correspondent dorian jones joins me now from istanbul good evening to you dorian the turkish military operation it has now gone from just an air of assault to a ground assault what do we know i mean troops and forces have actually crossed the border now right. well that's right the turkish defense ministry in a statement has said that the ground operation has begun saying soldiers have crossed across the syrian border into these towns held by the syrian kurdish militia this follows of bombardment by turkish jets and turkish artillery pounding . syrian militia and bases. possibly to the turkish military expediting this operation into previous operations in the past couple of years the . last had full days even one case a couple of weeks this that indicates that. these operations ground operations this could be costly and reaction to the growing backlash in washington you just heard the u.s. president donald trump again threatening to destroy turkey's economy if he if they go too far against the cuts so there is a realization that he need to get on with the top aeration

correspondent in istanbul dorian standing by for us hi dorian can you tell us more about what exactly the presidents putin and agreed upon. well putin have divided up his territory which is around 450 kilometers long and 30 kilometer so deep turkey will consolidate its military territorial gains in its operation around 120 kilometers but the rest of the territory will now fall under the control of the syrian regime forces and russian forces who will now guarantee the security of turkey's border with these patrols between turkey and russia that will follow the removal of the syrian kurdish forces but going for the security of this region will now in his throat matter has been agreed between putin and. then we'll have to look to damascus for future security arrangements and this will take it some point to open up negotiate a diplomatic relations which syria which it cut at the start the civil war so this is a very important success for putin as he's been working hard to bring russia bring turkey and syria together during it does raise the question what about the kurds and the syrians ar

frontlines. the latest from turkey d.w. correspondent dorian jones joins us from istanbul. age. said there are these reports now from syrian state t.v. confirming that syrian forces have entered this is part of a deal with the syrian kurds whereby that they would open the doors the gates to these key towns and cities in the region but the same time we are getting unconfirmed reports that there have been clashes in the suburbs by syrian rebels backed by the turkish forces even reports of one tank has been destroyed now this hasn't been confirmed by turkish forces with the syrian rebels have been camped just outside for many many months and the turkish president. today said that will be the next target of their operation which is an extremely important city it's on a key highway that leads to iraq in an interim making it a very important supply route and it's also the gateway to syria's 2nd city of aleppo all the syrian civil war in this city and now it appears to be up for grabs between syrian rebels backed by turkey and the damascus regime forces so as this complicated picture become

. dorian what has changed for everyone now that the kurds have reached an agreement with the syrian government. will they do that really potential game changer that the syrian kurds have now reached out to the damascus forces and they are believed to be currently trying to secure syria's northern border with turkey now that brings a prospect of a potential clash between turkish and syrian regime forces a major escalation in the syrian civil war with repercussions all across the region and the key flashpoints are believed to be the beach which both sides now are laying claim to and also the kurdish controlled town of karbala in the on turkey's bolder president one has said that his forces were along with the syrian rebels will be the thing that parents the same time we understand syrian regime forces are rushing to that town to secure it so potential looming confrontations here and at the center all of it is moscow moscow is back in the syrian regime at the same time it has good relations with turkey it will need to find some balancing act to avoid this potential clash with 2 importa

correspondents dorian jones and pablo fully alias on the story for us from istanbul and in washington gentlemen good evening dorian let me start with you what kind of agreement is this and where the kurds consulted before this announcement was made do we know. well the call is the agreement is that there will be temporary ceasefire of 120 hours we will allow the syrian kurdish militia to withdraw to 30 kilometers away from the. border if that is completed then turkey will end it operation permanently but there are very little details about whether the kurds were directly a part of these negotiations vice president pence said that they were in talks before these meetings in uncorrupt and said that they were welcoming such an agreement and were already starting to pull out but i think crucially we have had no official reaction from the kurdish forces over this agreement there are confirmed reports that they are rejecting it and i think they'll be big concerns about what will happen to this area if they do withdraw what happens their families who are there will the turks will expand thei

and for that we had to d.w. correspondent dorian jones is standing by for us in istanbul now dorian we're getting reports as we heard that fighting is continuing in the syrian city of ras ein who is involved there and is this a sign now that this cease fire is already starting to fall apart. well it's very difficult to confirm any of these reports but yet seen since the morning there has been reports of heavy fighting gunfire and even the use of what appears to be artillery suggesting possible turkish military involvement in the sea in the fighting but still difficult to know who and why who is responsible for this well the latest reports are suggesting that there has been a law in the fighting whether that is going to be permanent remains to be seen but it just starts on the line how fragile the ceasefire agreement is given the fact that there are so many ambiguity about this deal now one thing that is clear in that deal is that the cease fire requires kurdish forces to leave the 30 kilometer so-called safe zone or are they doing that. well this really is a big problem with this de