Erdogan sees no issues in Kobani after Syrian deployment, welcomes US withdrawal

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he does not think any problems will emerge in Syria’s Kobani after the Syrian army deployed along the border, adding that Russia’s Vladimir Putin had shown a “positive approach.”

Earlier on Monday, Syrian army troops entered the town of Tall Tamr in northeastern Syria, according to state media, after Damascus reached an agreement with the Kurdish-led forces in the region to deploy into the area to counter an attack by Turkey.

Speaking to reporters before traveling to Azerbaijan, Erdogan said Turkey would implement its plans for the northern Syrian town of Manbij and settle Arabs there. He also said a US move to withdraw some 1,000 troops from northern Syria was a positive step.

A senior Russian lawmaker also said on Monday that Turkey did not plan to seize Syrian territory by force and that there was therefore not a serious risk of an open Turkish-Syrian conflict, the RIA news agency reported.