Syrian army nears Turkish border as Kurds reach deal with Damascus

Istanbul: Syrian government forces were deployed on Monday to Kurdish strongholds in north-eastern Syria following an agreement between the Kurds and Damascus to confront a Turkish incursion, a war monitor and state media said. The move means Syrian troops are about 6 kilometres from Turkey’s border, putting them on a collision course with Turkish troops and their allied rebels. Syrian TV broadcast footage of residents welcoming their troops in Tal Tamr by throwing flowers. The town is important given its strategic location on arterial highways to both Iraq and Turkey. The deal between the Syrian Kurds and the Syrian government is a “military agreement to protect the borders of Syria against the Turkish aggression,” Berivan Xhaled, co-chairwoman of the autonomous Kurdish administration of Ain Issa in Syria, said. (dpa)