Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 8
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Damascus does not recognize the agreement reached between Turkey and the US on the establishment of a security zone in northern Syria, Trend reports referring to the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
According to the information, Syria considers this agreement to violate international law and the territorial integrity of the country.
Earlier, Turkey and the US came to an agreement on the creation of a security zone in northern Syria. A coordination center will soon be created in Turkey for the creation of said security zone.
On June 4, 2018, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed a roadmap on Syria's Manbij during talks in Washington. Earlier, Cavusoglu and Pompeo had a meeting in Brussels and discussed the Operation Olive Branch, as well as other issues.
On January 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria. On August 24, 2016, units of the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the "Islamic State", and liberated, with the support of the Syrian opposition, Al-Bab town and the border town of Jarabulus in northern Syria.
The safety zone in the north of Syria includes a territory 32 kilometers deep and 460 kilometers long along the Syrian border with Turkey. In the case of the creation of this zone, it will be divided into two parts, the first part will start from the Iraqi-Syrian border and will be extended to the Syrian city of Qamishli, because the Syrian government forces control this city.
The second part of the safety zone will start from Qamishli and will be extended to Jarabulus city, which was liberated from the terrorists of the “Islamic State” (IS) as part of the Operation Euphrates Shield conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in 2016.
The city of Manbij, where Turkey had previously intended to conduct anti-terrorist operations, is not a part of the safety zone.
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