Erdogan says Kurdish fighters have not left Syria 'safe zone" despite U.S, Russia deals

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan arrives at the Land Forces' Forward Joint Operation Command Center in Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 3, 2019. Murat Kula/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia had not withdrawn from a planned "safe zone" in northeast Syria despite Turkey's agreements with the United States and Russia.

Turkey struck two separate deals with the United States and Russia for the YPG, which Ankara views as a terrorist group, to withdraw from the "safe zone" it plans to form in northeastern Syria. While Washington and Moscow have said the fighters left, Erdogan has said this was not the case.