No PKK/YPG in safe zone with Turkey on Syria border: United States

WASHINGTON – Anadolu Agency

Washington is working with Turkey on “a safe zone of some length along the Turkish border,” and the zone would have no YPG/PKK forces, the U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement said on March 25.

“We’re looking for a solution that would meet everyone’s needs,” James Jeffrey, who also serves as the special envoy for the anti-ISIL coalition, said at a news conference at the State Department.

“We’re working with Turkey to have a safe zone of some length along the Turkish border where there would be no YPG forces because Turkey feels very nervous about the YPG and their ties to the PKK.

“We understand that President [Donald] Trump has made that clear to President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan,” he said.

Last month, the Pentagon announced that a few hundred troops would remain in Syria after the U.S. pullout in order to create a safe zone along the Turkey-Syria border.

Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, said the troops would be part of a multinational force.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the safe zone would be created “on the basis of the agreement that was signed between Turkey and Syria in 1998” known as the Adana agreement.

Signed in Turkey’s southern city of Adana, it is aimed at easing Ankara’s concerns regarding the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.