Turkish defense minister Hulusi Akar has told his US counterpart over a phone call that Turkey expects the US to completely end its support to the PKK/YPG terrorist group.
Akar said Turkey would be obliged to create a safe zone on its own in case the two countries failed to find a common ground, according to a statement released by the National Defense Ministry on Monday.
“TURKEY WILL NOT ALLOW A TERROR CORRIDOR”
Akar emphasized that they would not allow a terror corridor in south of Turkey and that Turkey wants to assure safety and security of not only its country and people but also other religious and ethnic groups like the Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Christians and Ezidis living in the region.
Akar also stressed that Turkey is the only competent, efficient and pertinent power to provide control over a safe zone in northern Syria.
He said that the safe zone should be created under the criteria that include retrieval of all weapons from the PKK/YPG situated in the safe zone, wiping off the terrorist organization from the safe zone which should be 30 to 40 kilometers in width, destruction of PKK/YPG’s all tunnels, shelters, equipment and ammunition in the area which will be controlled by Turkey and the U.S. in coordination.