Turkey and the United States agreed on Wednesday to establish a joint operation ...
ISTANBUL - Turkey and the United States agreed on Wednesday to establish a joint operation center in Turkey to coordinate and manage a planned safe zone in northeast Syria, a move that appeared to reduce the chance of imminent Turkish military action.
The proposed zone aims to secure a strip of land stretching more than 400 km along Syria’s northeastern border with Turkey, much of it controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia that fought with U.S. support against Islamic State militants. The two countries said on Wednesday they agreed on the “rapid implementation of initial measures to address Turkey’s security concerns”.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said it would be giving no further details for now of the agreement, news of which helped the lira hit its strongest level this week of 5.469 to the dollar. It stood at 5.487 at 1604 GMT.Turkey’s Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said earlier that Washington was shifting closer to Ankara’s views on the proposed safe zone.
A top Syrian Kurdish official told Reuters on Wednesday that any Turkish attack on Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria would spark a “big war”.U.S. President Donald Trump announced last year that U.S. forces would leave Syria and began an initial withdrawal, a decision applauded by Ankara, and the two NATO allies agreed to create the safe zone.
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