Turkey: US stalling on Syria safe zone will not work

By Sena Guler

ANKARA (AA) - The U.S. will not be able to stall Ankara on the establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Thursday.

"What we say is that a U.S. stalling tactic will not work. Unfortunately, they employed such stalling on Manbij [Syrian town], they did not keep their promise," Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference with Nabeela F. Tunis, his counterpart from Sierra Leone.

The Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the city to stabilize the region, which is located north of Aleppo near the Turkish border.

The YPG/PKK is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror group, which has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people in Turkey, including many children, women, and infants, for more than 30 years.

Cavusoglu underlined that the preliminary agreement between Ankara and Washington for a safe zone was only a beginning and that there remained "many topics" that need detailing.

On Aug. 7, Turkish and U.S. military officials agreed to set up a safe zone and develop a peace corridor to facilitate the return of displaced Syrians currently living in Turkey to their home country. They also agreed to establish a joint operations center.

The agreement envisages the setting up of measures necessary to address Turkey's security concerns.