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Syrian Kurds remain wary of US plan for Turkish safe zone

While the United States is pushing for a safe zone along the Turkish border in Syria to protect both sides, analysts warn that meeting their conflicting needs may prove impossible.
A Turkish army howitzer fires from a military post on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province, Turkey February 26, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1DA3686FA0

Syrian Kurdish officials say they remain opposed to any US plans for a safe zone that would foresee the further injection of Turkish forces and their rebel opposition Free Syrian Army allies in territories currently under their control along the Turkish border, saying any such arrangement would escalate tensions and add to instability. “A safe zone that allows for Turkish troops to come into our areas is completely unacceptable. The US goal should be to prevent Turkish aggression against us as we have no aggressive intentions toward Turkey,” a senior official in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. 

The official was responding to the latest comments by Jim Jeffrey, the United States’ Syria envoy, about a proposed safe zone.

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