U.S.Turkish deal on ‘safe zone’ slammed

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria on Thursday accused Turkey of “expansionist ambitions,” saying Ankara’s agreement with Washington to set up a socalled safe zone in northeastern Syria is a serious escalation and a violation of Syria’s sovereignty.

The statement by Syria’s Foreign Ministry comes a day after the U.S. and Turkey announced they’d agreed to form a coordination center to set up the safe zone. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the move, which is designed to address Ankara’s security concerns, was important.

The announcement offered little details on the safe zone but it may have averted — for now — a Turkish incursion into that part of Syria. Ankara seeks to push out U.S.allied Syrian Kurdish fighters from the region as it considers them terrorists allied with a Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey.

The Syrian Kurdish fighters were the main fighting force on the ground against Islamic State militants in the area, and Washington has been hard pressed to protect its partners.

Damascus said the Syrian Kurdish groups “bear historic responsibility” for the U.STurkey deal and urged them to drop “this aggressive U.S.Turkish project.”

Syria has had no presence along the Turkish border since 2012, when Syrian rebels and Syrian Kurdish groups took control of different parts of the region.

After three days of talks in Ankara and repeated Turkish threats of a military incursion in northeast Syria, Turkish and U.S. officials agreed Wednesday that the coordination center would be based in Turkey and would be set up “as soon as possible,” according to the Turkish defense ministry.