Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone
The Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone, part of the Sochi Agreement (, ), is a buffer zone in northern Syria between the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). It was set up following a memorandum of understanding in the Russian city Sochi on 22 October 2019 by the Russian and Turkish presidents during the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria. Most of the zone is controlled by the Syrian Army and Russian Military Police, and some by the TAF. Background. Following months of tension and threats, the first agreement to establish the  Northern Syria Buffer Zone was reached in mid August 2019, between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the United States on the one hand, and Turkey on the other. The deal aimed to limit the Turkish offensive on Syria's north through a process of gradual withdrawal of SDF, removal of fortifications and joint US-Turkish monitoring and patrols, while still allowing the area to remain under the civil control of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the military control of the Syrian Democratic Forces military councils as per the first buffer zone agreement. Despite initial progress  in its implementation, Turkey grew more and more dissatisfied with it, issuing more demands which were rejected by the SDF. In early October that same year, following a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump, Trump announced the withdrawal of US forces from the region, which allowed Erdoğan to dismiss the first buffer zone deal and launch his 2019 offensive into north-eastern Syria against the SDF, which Turkey considers to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, an organization designated by Turkey as a terrorist group. Having previously dismantled their fortifications and  having their positions observed as part of the first deal, and now stripped of military backing, SDF units reportedly faced a "desperate" challenge in having to defend their territory against both the Turkish Army and the Syrian National Army. Despite initially offering armed resistance, SDF units were nonetheless forced to withdraw, triggering a wave of over 300,000 displaced people, amid Kurdish fears that Turkey would resort to ethnic cleansing against the Kurdish population. Although Turkey's invasion was widely condemned internationally, the SDF stood little chance against the Turkish Army and the SNA. Amid what one SDF commander described as  a choice between "compromise and genocide", the SDF turned to the Syrian Government, with which they have had a lukewarm relationship, for help. The United States negotiated a 5-day ceasefire in Northern Syria on October 17, which required the SDF to withdraw from the border areas, but at the same time allowed the SDF time to negotiate further with Russia and the Syrian government. Seeking to avoid further expansion of Turkish control within Syria's territory, Bashar al-Assad's government agreed to a deal with the SDF to move the Syrian Army into the border areas. Subsequently, the  Syrian Army entered several SDF-held towns and positioned troops on the seam lines between the two sides in a bid to stop the Turkish offensive. The deal was struck shortly after the entry of Syrian army troops into SDF-held territories. Negotiation process. The agreement was negotiated between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 22 October 2019, at a diplomatic summit in the Russian resort town of Sochi. The negotiation of the agreement took six and a half hours to conclude. The Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone was thereby formed as a buffer zone  in northern Syria following a memorandum of understanding in Russian city Sochi on 22 October 2019 by the Russian and Turkish presidents in an attempt to end the ongoing conflict in the region. Terms of the agreement. The agreement reportedly included the following terms: