Sputnik: Negotiations between Turkish and Russian officers to discuss the fate of of Ain Issa town

The Russian “Sputnik” agency reported that a meeting was held between Turkish and Russian officers, on Monday, in the vicinity of Ain Issa town in the northern countryside of Raqqa, with the aim of discussing the tension in the town.

The agency quoted private sources, which it did not name them, that the Turkish side demanded the Russian side a complete withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces  from Ain Issa area, as a condition for reaching understandings that would lead to stopping any possible military action by the Turkish forces and the National Army in the city.

The same sources confirmed that Russia and the Assad regime asked the Syrian Democratic Forces to withdraw from the entire city of Ain Issa and its surroundings, raise the flag of the Assad regime over its government institutions, and hand it over to the Assad regime forces completely to prevent Turkish military action in the city.

According to the same sources, Syrian Democratic Forces offered a model similar to the Manbij city agreement and expressed its willingness to hand over the entrances and exits to Ain Issa only to the Assad regime forces, which was categorically rejected by the Assad regime and Russia.

On November 15, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the launch of a military operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces in northern Syria, confirming its intention to eliminate terrorist organizations.

These developments come in light of clashes and bombing between the National Army and the Syrian Democratic Forces in the contact lines around the town of Ain Issa in the northern countryside of Raqqa for weeks.

The city of Ain Issa is of great importance due to its strategic location on the international highway (Hasaka-Raqqa-Aleppo) known as (M4), the link between eastern and western Syria.