New “Syrian Safe Zone Agreement” between Turkey and the United State.. Turkish Official Media: “Installation of Infrastructure”

Turkey and the United States have embarked on the installation of infrastructure for a joint operations center as part of the creation of a safe area in northern Syria.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that work is continuing to activate the joint operations center to be established, in the province of Sanliurfa, southern Turkey, within the framework of the safe area planned to be established in northern Syria in coordination with the United States.

Turkish Defense Ministry, added that she and the US delegation, consisting of six people, have started the installation of the Joint Operations Center infrastructure and that equipment has been provided for the sensitive functions of the Center.

The Ministry pointed out that work is continuing to establish and activate the Joint Operations Center as soon as possible and without any delay.

On Monday, the ministry revealed, in a statement, the arrival of a US delegation to Sanliurfa, to make initial preparations within the activities of the Joint Operations Center on the safe area.

On Wednesday, Ankara and Washington reached an agreement to establish a Joint Operations Center in Turkey as soon as possible to coordinate and manage the creation of the Safe Zone in northern Syria.

Pentagon: Agreement with Turkey on the establishment of a safe area in Syria will be implemented in “stages and gradually”.

The Pentagon, issued a statement that, “We’re currently reviewing options on a joint coordination center with our Turkish military counterparts”, as Pentagon spokesman Sean Robertson told AFP.

“The security mechanism will be implemented in stages”, he said.

“The United States is ready to start some activities quickly as we continue talks with the Turks”, he said.

Under the terms of the agreement reached last week between Ankara and Washington, the authorities will use the coordination center, which will be based in Turkey, to prepare for a safe area in northern Syria.

The aim of the zone is to create a buffer zone between the Turkish border and areas controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a US-backed force that Ankara classifies as a terrorist organization.

But retired General Joseph Votel, the former head of US Central Command until March, publicly opposed Turkey’s control of such a region.

Votel warned in an opinion piece published by the website “National Interstate” Monday that a safe area of ​​Syria controlled by Turkey “will create more problems for all parties there”.

“The imposition of a security zone 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of the Euphrates would be counterproductive, most likely causing the displacement of 90 percent of the Kurdish population and exacerbating the situation”, Votel said in an article written jointly by Turkish expert at George Washington University Gonul Tol.

Humanitarian currently challenging, creating an environment for more conflicts”.

Syrian Kurds, who played a key role in the war against IS, established an autonomous region in northeastern Syria.

But with the end of the war against jihadists, the prospect of a US military pullout has stoked Kurdish fears of a long-running Turkish offensive.

Turkey has so far carried out two cross-border military operations in Syria in 2016 and 2018, and the second has seen Turkish troops and Syrian rebel fighters enter the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in the northwest.