Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 3
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
The US behaves insincerely in the issue of creating safety zone in northern Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusogu said, Trend reports referring to Turkish media.
He said that Ankara always and in all matters behaves as a strategic partner of the US, but, unfortunately, there is no such behavior on the part of Washington.
He also noted that the Turkish Armed Forces are waiting for the order of the commander-in-chief of the country to start anti-terrorist operations in northern Syria.
On Oct. 1, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will have to create the safety zone in northern Syria alone.
He noted that the Syrian refugees who live in Turkey will be moved to the safety zone.
“Turkey can no longer wait for someone to create the safety zone in northern Syria,” he said.
Erdogan noted that creating the safety zone won’t be easy, but the country’s armed forces will cope with this difficult task.
On Sept. 18, Erdogan said that the US was given two weeks to create a safety zone in northern Syria. Should the US not fulfill its promises and obligations, Ankara will take measures for creating a security zone on its own, he noted.
He also noted that Syrian refugees will be sent from Turkey to the safety zone to be created in northern Syria.
Turkey and the US came to an agreement on the creation of a safety zone in northern Syria on August 7.
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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