ISTANBUL/DAMASCUS: Turkey will not allow a Syrian safe-zone agreement jointly struck with the US to be sidelined, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, hours after Damascus called the plan a “flagrant attack” on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We will not allow a stalling of this operation,” Cavusoglu said, speaking to reporters in Ankara. “It needs to be implemented.”
The top diplomat said Turkey did not want the deal to turn into “another Manbij road map,” referring to a deal struck by the two Nato allies last year on the future of the northern Syrian town.
Turkey and the United States agreed on Wednesday to jointly establish a buffer zone in Syria’s north, one day after Ankara threatened to mount a military offensive against US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the region.
Ankara considers the YPG, who played a key role in fighting IS militants in Syria, to be terrorists.
— dpa
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