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despite talk we should fishel is earlier in the day voicing concern things as many as 2000 kurdish militia have not withdrawn beyond the 30 kilometer border agreed in this cease fire agreement and the one that earlier in the week been warning that he would crush the heads of any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

. 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 of donald trump move essentially what we've been seeing here today is something we've seen before many many times presidents come 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 leading to a deal splitting up syria between russia and turkey and they the outcome of that is that russia became stronger asop became stronger putin became stronger. go on of course as well and even i since my research

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

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

in syria d w correspondent dorian jones has more from istanbul on what's been agreed even though 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 the 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 a 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 and now that the kurds are now beholden to withdraw from the from the border will be of 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

to turkey our correspondent dorian jones is standing by in istanbul good evening to you dorian so how do you read this agreement that we're seeing now coming out of sort of are we looking at turkey and russia are they coming together or do we see 2 powers that are still competing for influence in syria well even russia and turkey are backing rival sides in the syrian civil war what we've 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 the 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 of turkish forces could also make it into a shooting war with the syrian regime forces further instability in the in the 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 now that the kurds are now beholden to withdrawal from the from the border will be on a key part of turkey's objectives in this operat

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

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

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 that fighting has continued in this crucial town of russia 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 cease fire is holding in fact president speaking to reporters said this is all dissin from a short 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 i could really does have an interest in it continuing on the ground it does appear that there's still ongoing fighting who actually is responsible the syrian kurds and they should claim it's mainly the syrian rebels that are fighting with the turkish walters' they are blaming them for

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

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

to do their views dorian jones standing by for us in istanbul good day to dorian we're getting reports right now that fighting is continuing in the syrian city of also on our turkish troops involved in those hostilities well certainly there has been the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions possibly the use of artillery in the last few hours but it's unclear what the source of the. fighting is was it possibly celebrate 3 gun fire and possibly the militia just syrian militia destroying their . weapons depos but what we do know now is that for the last hour or so things have calmed down and it's pretty quiet as is along the rest of this area of heavy fighting in the last few days so it does seem that this cease fire does appear at least for now to be temporarily holding although it would be fair to say the situation remains very tense given that there are so many ambiguity over this agreement ok it's calm right now that's certainly good to hear but can you tell us about a little bit about ross all right. who's lined up there who's facing. well that's i mean it really has been the

and public joining us from istanbul in washington gentlemen good evening dorian let me start with you what more do we know about this cease fire slash suspension slash temporary stop in fighting. 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 alex cease fire 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 in ankara because there understand the deal is that 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

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

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

. 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

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

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

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

. let's get the latest now from istanbul we're joined now by dorian jones our correspondent there good morning a dorian we have the turkish president aired on 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 one calls it to allow the return of

taki the sanctions seem to have had little impact so far correspondent dorian jones has more from istanbul. turkey's political leadership have dismissed sanctions by u.s. president donald trump as further financial markets in turkey shrugged off their impact there have been expectations that the sanctions by washington would be far more severe but trump sanctions were largely seen as symbolic for the turkish lira even recording a modest increase as along with the broader financial markets turkish president reject type word one vowed to continue its operation until all the objectives have been achieved turkey continued to ramp up its offensive into syria and there is mounting concern over the strategically important syrian town of mom bitch damascus forces have taken over the town of the syrian forces open the doors as part of a wider agreement but turkish forces are camped out around the important town with president vowing to take it the mask equally determined not to allow that to happen and russia has deployed its forces between the 2 armies russian president vladimir putin is

. says that 160000 people have already fled the fighting. are the latest now let's go to w.'s dorian jones he's standing by in istanbul good evening to you dorian what are we looking at tonight has this operation gone from an offensive to push back the kurds to a potential confrontation between the military forces of turkey and syria and russia. well that is the big danger that is that is facing these syria now and it's all focused around the strategically important town of man beach you have to mask his forces now taking control of the town and turkish forces camped outside with the turkish president project type reiterating his commitment to take that town and to turn it back to what he says its rightful owners now these people are groups that have been fighting the syrian regime for years and damascus will be equally determined not to let that happen in between now you have moscow trying to defuse the risk of a confrontation and up until now russian president president vladimir putin while strongly backing to the mask his regime has developed of working relationship with now he ha

term settlement of the issues along the border between turkey and syria on. let's go to dorian jones that stumble welcome dorian what sort of effect are u.s. sanctions likely to have. well initially they've had absolutely none in fact the turkish financial markets surged on the news of the sanctions or the turkish lira recording a high increase and of similar other markets as well and that's because the expectation was that these sanctions were going to be far more draconian in fact these measures are seen as largely symbolic and more than that it is seen that they are preventing or at least postponing the possibility of far more to conan sanctions coming from congress where there was a lot more concern so at least for now it seems that turkey believes it's dodged a bullet and you've heard a very tough statement from the turkish president richard type the one insisting this will have no effect and go on reaffirm his commitment to pursue the object of this operation to the very end and the turkish foreign minister. also china saying sanctions don't work let's talk about this this oper

correspondent or you jonesy standing by for us in istanbul good evening to you dorian so what are you hearing from one beach. well like you said the syrian state media have confirmed that syrian forces have entered this is part of the deal with the syrian kurds whereby towns and cities under their control would be opened up to the syrian regime forces the same time we're getting unconfirmed reports that there have been some clashes on the outskirts of the city with syrian rebels that are backed by the turkish turkish forces earlier today president. said beach will be the next target of the turkish forces in this ongoing operation . because mum but she says he has won 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 regime forces and doria

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

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

. 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

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

territory to resettle syrian refugees living in turkey let's get the latest 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 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 fishel confirmation by damascus that a deal has been struck off of them that they are deploying forces towards the border with turkey now believed to move into the town of campania right on turkey border very strategically important but i'm understanding of this deal is that they will ultimately secure the whole of syria's northern border with turkey but as i said there are real no details of what the make the details of how this will be carried out 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 and that one statement from a prominent kurdish leader said we don't trust these people were very unhappy that a very bitter pi

istanbul is it already correspondent dorian jones story german chancellor angela merkel has told turkey to immediately halt its offensive in northern syria have we heard any reaction from the turkish side yet. well there's been no direct response to chancellor merkel's call but for sunday president has been dismissing calls similar calls from other european leaders saying turkey easing into listen to what he says is this call to end the fight against terrorism they say this is very much about the future of the country nothing will dissuade turkey from continuing its operations and in fact turkey does appear to be ramping up its operations given the fast moving developments happening in syria now that turkey very much see this is a key moment this is not a moment now to step back but rather to operations up further is even speculation turkey could extend its operations far beyond the original objective of the 30 kilometer safe so turkey really sees this as a critical moment for the whole region this is a moment the turkey has to address all its concerns it's here this is a chance to do t