Ankara grapples with security, repatriation in Syria as cease-fire deadline expires
Security challenges loom for the new Turkish-administered safe zone in Syria as the deadline expires for the withdrawal of Kurdish forces.
An air of volatility hangs over the newly created "safe zone" in northeast Syria following a two-week Turkish incursion to eradicate US-backed Kurdish forces from its southern border.
Hours before a cease-fire negotiated between Turkish and Russian officials — allowing for the withdrawal the People’s Protection Units (YPG) element of Kurdish-led forces that held the area since 2014 — was set to expire at 3 p.m. GMT today, Syrian regime forces clashed with the Turkish military, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
