ANKARA: Deep differences between Turkey and the United States over the scope and command of a planned “safe zone” in northeast Syria raise the prospect of Turkish military action unless the two countries break months of deadlock in talks this week.
Turkey has twice sent troops into northern Syria in the last three years and President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday a third incursion was imminent, targeting Kurdish-controlled territory east of the Euphrates River.
Ankara views the Kurdish YPG militia, which plays a leading role in the Syrian Democratic Forces that hold sway over hundreds of miles (km) of Syria’s northeast border region, as terrorists who pose a grave security threat to Turkey, saying they must be driven back from frontier areas.
Washington, which armed and backed them in the fight against IS in Syria, wants to protect its military partners and has resisted Turkey’s demands for full control of a long strip of land that would extend 32 km into Syria.
Military delegations from both countries are meeting in Ankara this week, the latest attempt in months of talks on setting up the safe zone which they agreed to form as President Donald Trump’s administration reduces troop numbers in Syria.
Three Turkish officials who spoke to Reuters expressed impatience that the talks have yet to yield results, and warned that Ankara was ready to act on its own.
“For some time, Turkey’s armed forces have deployed on the Syrian border. All the necessary preparations for an operation are complete,” a senior Turkish official said.
“If we have to do this business on our own, we will. Of course the sensitivities of the countries with which we cooperate are important but they finally have to understand us. Every passing day is a loss.”
TOUGH POSITION
The safe zone impasse is just one of several disputes between the two Nato partners. Turkey angered the United States last month by buying Russian missile defence equipment, and the two countries are also split over Washington’s Iran sanctions and refusal to extradite a cleric wanted by Ankara.
Both sides have made their frustration clear.
Trump’s special envoy for Syria said after an earlier round of talks on the safe zone last week that Turkey had taken a “pretty tough” position. “The Turks want a deeper zone than the one we think makes sense,” James Jeffrey said.
Washington has proposed a two-tiered zone, with a 5-kilometre demilitarised strip bolstered by an additional 9 km cleared of heavy weapons — stretching in total less than half the distance into Syria that Turkey is seeking.
The United States has sought, with little sign of success, military contributions from European allies to police the area.
Turkey has said it must have ultimate authority over the safe zone, another point of divergence with the United States.
“When Ankara says it wants to control the 32-km zone, the United States can never agree to that,” said Aaron Stein, director of the Middle East programme at the US think-tank Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Given that negotiations had “flatlined,” he said Turkey was likely to act unilaterally and pointed to several potential military targets including areas around the northern Syrian town of Manbij and the border towns of Tel Abyad or Kobane.
US forces operate to varying degrees in all three areas, meaning American troops could risk being caught up in hostilities if Turkey does take action. — Reuters
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