Turkey will not accept the legitimization of the PKK/YPG east of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, experts said Monday.
Ankara should prepare for a military solution to establish a safe zone, Murat Aslan, a faculty member at Hasan Kalyoncu University in Gaziantep and a researcher at the security studies directorate of Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), told a panel in Ankara regarding Turkish-American relations in the context of a Syrian safe zone.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE EXPECTATIONS
Nursin Atesoglu Guney, a member of Turkey’s Presidential Security and Foreign Policy Council said: “Turkey’s expectations about safe zone agreement have not been fulfilled yet.” “A military intervention is highly probable if diplomacy fails,” Guney said.
There are serious differences between the expectations of US and Turkey regarding the safe zone, said Executive Director of the Washington-based SETA, Kadir Ustun. Ustun stressed that there is no consensus on the scope, depth and implementation process of the safe zone.
While Turkey aims to completely eliminate the terrorist organization nesting in the northern Syria, the U.S. counts on dealing with Turkey and the terrorist organization on the same level, Erdogan said. “It seems Turkey’s ally is after a safe zone in northern Syria not for Turkey but for the terrorist group. We reject such an approach,” he added.