GAZIANTEP, Turkey — On April 26, the Turkish Yeni Safak newspaper reported that the Turkish army was mobilizing its ground forces to carry out a large-scale military operation to eliminate Islamic State militants from a northern Syrian area 18 kilometers (11 miles) deep and 8 kilometers (5 miles) wide.

According to the newspaper, the Turkish army deployed almost half of its ground forces, led by a squad of elite forces, to create a safe zone along the Turkish-Syrian border 110 kilometers (68 miles) long and 45 kilometers (28 miles) deep. This safe area will allow the refugees to cross back into their country from Turkey, where their numbers exceed 2.7 million.

In a related development, the head of the opposition-affiliated Syrian National Coalition, Anas al-Abdah, noted in a press statement on May 12, “Turkey is entitled to establish a safe zone in Syria to secure the Syrians’ return to their country and protect its borders, according to the agreements signed between the two countries.”

Abdah further noted that the “Adana Protocol signed between Turkey and Syria in 1998 provides the groundwork for Ankara to establish a safe zone in Syria,” adding, “If this happens, Ankara will have secured its border, and Syrians can then safely return to their country.”