Turkey, Syrian Kurds remain at odds in safe zone visions
The US-Turkish deal on a safe zone in northern Syria has averted the prospect of Turkey fighting the Kurds, but the parties have stepped into a diplomatic minefield, where the interests and objectives do not match.
Renewed arm wrestling is underway in the wake of the US-Turkish accord on creating a safe zone in northern Syria. The sides failed to define the specifics of the zone, even though the deal averted a unilateral Turkish incursion into Kurdish-held areas to the east of the Euphrates River.
The three points announced as part of the accord — reached Aug. 7 in Ankara with indirect Kurdish participation — call for measures to address Turkey’s security concerns and the creation of a joint operations center in Turkey to coordinate the establishment of a safe zone, which would then become a “peace corridor.” The joint operation center is the only concrete action specified in the deal, and an American team has already arrived in the border province of Sanliurfa for that purpose.
An array of contentious points were left to further negotiations, including key issues such as the depth and length of the safe zone, who will control it and whether it will encompass cities. Each party is now mulling using the deal as a convenient monkey wrench to their advantage.
For days after the deal, the only comment from the Syrian Kurds was that the details of the accord had not been decided. Via US mediators, they had earlier offered Turkey a safe zone with a depth of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). Then, on Aug. 10, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, referring to major military victories in Turkish history won in August, vowed to “add a new one to that series of victories this August.”
