Sochi Deal On YPG/PKK Withdrawal Goes "As Planned"

Turkey's deal with Moscow on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from northern Syria is right on track, Turkey's national defense minister said Saturday

"Everything is normal, and [the deal] is going as planned," Hulusi Akar told reporters in Brussels following a NATO defense ministers' meeting.

Akar said the YPG/PKK withdrawal, in line with the deal reached in Sochi, Russia this week, must be completed as of next Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 18.00 local time (1500GMT).

On Tuesday, in Russia's Black Sea resort town of Sochi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin reached a deal under which YPG/PKK terrorists will pull back 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Turkey's border with Syria within 150 hours, and security forces from Turkey and Russia will mount joint patrols there.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK. -