Ankara: Said Abdel Razek – Washington. Damascus: «Middle East»
On the eve of a meeting of the Turkish National Security Council today (Thursday), a clear dispute emerged between Ankara and Washington regarding the “safe zone” that the Turks are seeking to establish along their border with Syria, at a depth of 30 kilometers.
At a time when the United States warned that the attack that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to start soon would threaten the stability of the region, Turkish sources told Asharq Al-Awsat in Ankara that the Americans did not abide by the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed on October 17, 2019 consisting of 13 articles. The most important of which is the withdrawal of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, the largest component of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF) coalition, to a distance of 30 kilometers from the southern Turkish border “within 5 days”.
The words of these sources came at a time when there was no official comment from Ankara on the US position rejecting the Turkish threat to launch a military operation to establish the safe zone. The US State Department spokesman, Ned Price, said in a press conference on Tuesday: “We are deeply concerned about reports and discussions about the possibility of increased activity.” military action in northern Syria, and in particular its impact on the civilian population there.” He added, “We are aware of Turkey’s legitimate security concerns on its southern borders, but any new attack would undermine stability in the region and endanger US forces and the coalition’s campaign against the terrorist organization ISIS.” I sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Security Council describing Turkey’s actions as illegal. “It amounts to being characterized as war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she said in a statement carried by the state news agency.
And the pro-government newspaper Yeni Şafak wrote, on Wednesday, that preparations had been made for a new operation with the aim of expanding the “safe areas” that had already been established in northern Syria, with the identification of several objectives.
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