Turkish Foreign Minister continue threatening Kurdish groups in northern Syria and warned the United States not to continue their support for them with the announcement of the Turkish Ministry of Defense details of the opening of the Joint Operations Center for the establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria
Turkey is determined to clear the eastern Euphrates area of Kurdish protection units at all costs, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Caveusoglu said.
Ankara has taken all necessary measures against external threats, said Caveusoglu on Sunday at the AK Party headquarters in the southern Mediterranean city of Antalya.
He noted that Turkey would cleanse the east of the Euphrates and also cleaned Afrin and Jarablus of terrorist elements.
He continued: “We’ll clean the east of the Euphrates at all costs, there is no change in our resolve and will not allow America to distract us along the lines of the Manbej agreement”.
He pointed out that Turkey has taken important steps in the operation east of the Euphrates, recalling that the United States didn’t fulfill its promise on Manbej.
He added to the United States: “Either we clean the area east of the Euphrates together, or that Turkey will enter and do the job by itself in the region to clean it from terrorists”.
In the meantime, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that it will soon open the Joint Operations Center scheduled to be established under the agreement reached with the United States regarding the safe area to be formed in northern Syria.
“We express our desire to move forward in the spirit of alliance, strategic partnership and action with our American allies, after the establishment of the Joint Operations Center”, he said in televised remarks.
However, if it didn’t, Turkey would have its own activities and operations.
Speaking about the talks held with the US military delegation in Turkey between 5 and 7 this month, Akar said, “We talked about our intentions, concerns and requests, and they expressed their views.
Safe, heavy weapons withdrawn from them, airspace surveillance, intelligence coordination and exchange”.
He pointed out that the talks dealt with the return of Syrians living in Turkey to the areas that will be cleared of terrorism, stressing to reach a great understanding in this regard.
In response to a question on the establishment of a timetable, the Turkish minister said: “We put after the deadlines because of the occurrence of delays previously, and we told them that we won’t accept this to happen, and the need to do what is required according to a program”.
“Other activities will be carried out with the opening of the Joint Operations Center in the coming days, as we have made it clear that we’ll never allow the establishment of a terrorist corridor in the south of our country, and assured our American counterparts that we intend to take the necessary action”.
In response to a question about the depth of the safe area, Akar explained that they assured the US side that it should be between 30 to 40 kilometers, pointing out that US President Donald Trump put this distance during a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On the extent of US sincerity, Akar stressed that they have set time-bound targets and checkpoints, saying: “As long as the commitment to these things will continue our cooperation, and we have repeatedly told them that we cannot afford to wait in the case of non-compliance”.
He stressed that Turkey would have the right to use the initiative alone without any hesitation in case of non-compliance with what has been reached.
He stated that they conveyed to the American delegation the need to end the support provided to YPK/PYD, which is no different from the PKK terrorist, especially weapons and ammunition, and that this is a condition in the name of the coalition and strategic partnership.
He also pointed to the continued air and ground attacks, “unfair and immoral”, to the Syrian-backed Syrian regime on the area of de-escalation, noting that about 400 civilians have been killed as a result since last June.
He stressed that Turkey is continuing talks with Russia on the necessary measures aimed at ensuring the return of normalcy in the region.
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.
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced, talks with US military officials in Ankara between the 5th and the 7th of Augusts, on the safe area.
An agreement had been reached to implement the measures to be taken in the first phase in order to remove the Turkish concerns as soon as possible.
The Turkish defense confirmed that it was agreed with the US side to make the safe area a peace corridor, and take all additional measures to ensure the return of Syrians to their country.
