U.S., Turkey agree on safe zone in Syria
GAZIANTEP, Turkey — The United States and Turkey agreed Wednesday to create a safe zone in northeastern Syria that would allow Turkey to protect its borders from Syrian-kurdish forces that it regards as a terrorist threat and provide Syrian refugees in Turkey a safe space to return home.
Defense officials from both countries issued separate but similar statements after three days of talks in Ankara, the Turkish capital. The statements gave no details about the size of the zone or how it will be policed, but the agreement was presented by Turkey as a meeting of its demands.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey had threatened a military incursion into northeastern Syria to secure the border region from Syrian-kurdish forces. Turkey regards those forces as a threat because of their links to the PKK, which is waging an insurgency in Turkey. Turkey and the United States have labeled the PKK a terrorist organization.
Erdogan also proposed a safe zone under Turkish control to allow many of the Syrian refugees in Turkey an area within Syria that would be free of Syrian government control.
The United States, which has military forces in the area and cooperates with the Syrian-kurdish forces, or SDF, in operations combating the Islamic State, has warned Turkey against taking any unilateral action in the region.
Discussions have been focused on the SDF pulling its forces and weaponry away from the border area and on the size of the safe zone. The United States has preferred a zone that is just a few miles wide, whereas Turkey has sought a corridor along its border as deep as 20 miles.
The Wednesday agreement appears to be aimed only at ensuring that Turkish and American forces do not come into conflict.
The delegations agreed on “the rapid implementation of initial measures to address Turkey’s security concerns,” and to create a joint operations center in Turkey “to coordinate and manage the establishment of the safe zone,” according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.