ANKARA, Turkey, Aug 15 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish drones started operating in northern Syria on Wednesday, as part of a recent agreement between Turkey and the United States, on the creation of a safe zone there.
Turkish Defence Ministry, said that, drones started carrying out work in the area, where the safe zone, or “peace corridor,” for the return of refugees will be created.
Efforts were underway to set up a Joint Operations Centre, in the south-eastern Turkish province of Sanliurfa “as soon as possible,” it added.
A U.S. delegation arrived in Sanliurfa on Monday, to set up the centre that will oversee the establishment of the safe zone.
Although details of the safe zone’s size and management remain undetermined, the command centre is expected to be a pillar of negotiations, shaping the future of a region that has been a severe friction point in U.S.-Turkey relations.
Even though an agreement has been reached between the two allies, divisions remain on the role, implementation and functioning of the future buffer zone, according to observers.
“Details of the Turkish-U.S. deal have not been announced and we know nothing on the depth of the planned safe zone. Turkey wants a buffer zone up to 30-40 km deep inside Syria, while the Americans are not keen on a zone more than five km deep, so for the moment there are many uncertainties,” said Naim Baburoglu, a military analyst.
“Turkey should not let the United States buy time and try to prevent a Turkish incursion in north-eastern Syria, east of the Euphrates, by engaging in interminable negotiations” about the parameters of a safe zone, said the retired Turkish army general.
According to information published in Turkish media, the United States wants to confine the presence of Turkish troops to rural areas only, and holds full command of all areas, except a five-km-strip at the border that would be under Turkish control.
“Turkey won’t allow the U.S. to stall the process for the operation east of the Euphrates, like they did in Manbij,” a town in north-eastern Syria where Turks and Americans established a joint patrol protocol, after months of U.S. stalling, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told reporters at the weekend.
If the United States hesitate to meet Ankara’s demands over the safe zone, which include a corridor 32 km deep into Syrian territory, Turkey could pursue its own solutions in the region, where up to 2,000 U.S. troops are deployed, Turkish Defence Minister, Hulusi Akar, warned.
The buffer zone, agreed between Ankara and Washington, would also allow Syrian refugees to return to their homeland, in the country’s north.– NNN-ANADOLU
