Erdogan:

Kurdish Militants Will Not Shelter in Syrian ‘Safe Zone’

Date: 21 January 2019 - 21:07

News ID: ۶۲۳۲۴

ANKARA (Dispatches) – President Tayyip Erdogan made clear on Monday that Turkey would not allow a "safe zone” that it is considering setting up in northern Syria to become a base for Kurdish militants.
Erdogan said Turkey would work with anyone willing to provide it with logistics support for the zone, but that it would take action in Syria if promises were not kept.
Last week, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on Dec. 19 to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, Erdogan said he and Trump had discussed Turkey setting up a 20-mile-deep safe zone inside Syria along the length of their border.
"We will never allow a safe zone that will turn into a new swamp for Turkey like the one in Northern Iraq, where we still experience problems,” Erdogan said.
"We are not talking of a safe zone (as protection) against Turkey, but rather one against terrorists.”
The Turkish president also said says his country was prepared to take over security in Syria’s northern town of Manbij where a deadly bomb attack killed several American soldiers last Wednesday.
Erdogan made the remarks in a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a statement by the Turkish presidency.
Erdogan told Trump that the attack was a "provocation" aimed at affecting his last month's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, the statement said.
Since the withdrawal announcement, Manbij has been a major bone of contention between Ankara and Washington over the fate of U.S.-backed YPG militants in the war-torn country.
Turkey had been sending the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants to Manbij in recent years, reportedly in preparation for an offensive to drive YPG fighters out of the city.
The White House also confirmed the phone talk, but did not specifically mention Erdogan's comments about Manbij.
"The two leaders agreed to continue to pursue a negotiated solution for northeast Syria that achieves our respective security concerns. They also discussed their mutual interest in expanding the trade relationship between the United States and Turkey," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.
Erdogan and Trump also agreed to accelerate discussions between their chiefs of staff about establishing a safe zone in northeastern Syria, according to the Turkish presidency.
In another phone talk with the Turkish president last week, Trump proposed that a "security zone” be set up under Turkey's control along the Syrian side of the two countries’ border, a proposition rejected by U.S.-backed Kurdish militants and Russia.
The US has been arming and training Kurdish militants under the banner of helping them fight Daesh, but Syria and several other countries see ulterior motives behind the deployment.
On December 19, Trump claimed U.S. troops had succeeded in their mission to defeat Daesh terrorists in Syria, announcing, he was bringing home some 2,000 American forces deployed there.