GENEVA, October 25. /TASS/: Switzerland has taken note of the Russian-Turkish memorandum on joint actions to settle the situation in northeastern Syria and calls on all concerned parties to take efforts towards further de-escalation, Swiss Foreign Ministry Spokesman Pierre-Alain Eltschinger told TASS on Friday.
"Switzerland took note of the memorandum of understanding signed by Russia and Turkey on October 22, 2019," he said. "It calls on all parties concerned to work towards further de-escalation and political settlement of the conflict in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, to obey by the United Nations Charter, respect international humanitarian law and human rights. It is also necessary to respect Syria’s territorial integrity."
Bern, in his words, is confident that "the return of refugees and asylum seekers to their homeland must be voluntary and must not be in breach of international law."
On October 22, Russian and Turkish Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed a memorandum on joint actions in northeastern Syria. Under the arrangement the Russian military police and Syrian military are to be moved into the areas bordering the zone of Turkey’s operation in Syria as of noon of October 23. The Kurdish forces will have 150 hours to vacate the 30-kilometer wide strip of land along the Turkish border. After that, Russian and Turkish forces are to begin joint patrols.
Moscow and Ankara also reiterated the major importance of the 1998 Adana agreement that gives Turkey the right to conduct minor trans-border anti-terrorism operations in Syria’s border zone.
