A proposed safe zone deal between Turkey, the United States and the Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria must run the full length of territory lying between the Euphrates River and the Tigris, the commander of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces asserted in an interview published today by the pro-SDF Hawar News Agency.

Striking a moderate tone on the US-led talks to establish a safe zone, Mazlum Kobane confirmed that no firm agreement on the precise nature and scope of the zone had been reached.

Kobane stressed that the SDF would not accept any plan that did not include the full stretch of the border separating the Kurdish-controlled northeast of Syria from Turkey. He did not elaborate.

But a senior SDF official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the topic told Al-Monitor, “The reason the agreement needs to encompass the whole border is because otherwise Turkey will continue to threaten unilateral action against the territories that fall outside it. We have no reason to believe that Turkey’s fundamental hostility toward us has changed.”