French FM justifies Turkey's need to secure borders

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - The French foreign minister said Wednesday that it is perfectly normal for Turkey to feel the need to protect its borders.

Referring to setting up a safe zone in northern Syria, Jean-Yves Le Drian, in a speech he delivered at the Foreign Commission of Senate, said they understood Turkey's security concerns.

Le Drian said he will try to find answers to several questions he had regarding the safe zone at an international meeting on Feb. 3 in Washington.

Frontiers and guarantors of the safe zone in Syria should be discussed during the meeting, he added.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced plans to withdraw American forces from the war-weary country.

When Trump proposed the idea of a terror-free safe zone in northern Syria, U.S. officials demanded Turkey guarantee that it will not conduct an operation against terrorist group YPG/PKK.

Turkey backed the idea of a safe zone in Syria, while it opposed the U.S. request for protection of the terrorists.

A mission east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, which Turkey’s leadership has been suggesting for months, would follow two successful cross-border Turkish operations into Syria since 2016 -- Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch -- meant to eradicate the presence of YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists near Turkey’s borders.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.