The Turkish Defense Minister announced the start of operations in the safe zone in northern Syria, in accordance with the deal agreed between them and the United States.
On Wednesday, the Defense Ministry issued a map on its official website in which it said that Turkish drones had started operations in the safe zone, without specifying the exact location where they began to operate. It added that efforts were underway to put into service a joint operations center in the Turkish province of Sanliurfa.
The United States has not yet commented on Turkey’s announcement of the commencement of operations in the safe zone.
Turkey had announced that the first batch of American soldiers arrived in Sanliurfa to start operations in a joint operations center in accordance with the deal reached between the two sides on Aug. 7, 2019.
It added that with the six person American delegation had commenced work to organize infrastructure for the joint operations and that it had provided equipment related to the center’s sensitive tasks.
Ankara and Washington reached an agreement on Aug. 7, 2019, that stipulated the setting up of a joint operations center in Turkey as soon as possible, whereby the operations center would carry out coordination and administration of the safe zone.
The two sides also agreed to take the first steps to remove “Turkish security concerns” along the southern border and to make the safe zone a “peace passage” in order to guarantee the “safety” of Syrian refugees and displaced people, according to the statement issued by the American embassy in Ankara.
On Wednesday, the Khabar Turk website published a potential map for the safe zone, which was seen by Alsouria Net. It included various Syrian towns and cities including Ayn al-Arab, Tel Abyad, Darbiseh, and Qamishli, which are under the control of the Kurdish Self-Administration, at a depth of just nine kilometers, according to the Turkish website.
Turkey is asking that the depth of the safe zone be 30-40km, while the United States says that it should not exceed five kilometers.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
