Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Kurds

Turkey will set up and itself Manage Syria ‘Security Zone’ after Trump Call

Fulya Ozerkan 01/16/2019

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

By Fulya OZERKAN | –

Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey welcomed the planned withdrawal of some 2,000 US troops from Syria but the future of US-backed Kurdish militia forces there labelled terrorists by Ankara has poisoned US-Turkish ties

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Ankara would set up a “security zone” in northern Syria suggested by US President Donald Trump.

Erdogan’s comments came a day after he had a telephone conversation with Trump to ease tensions after the US leader threatened to “devastate” the Turkish economy if Ankara attacks Kurdish forces in Syria.

Turkey has welcomed Washington’s planned withdrawal of some 2,000 US troops from Syria but the future of US-backed Kurdish militia forces labelled terrorists by Ankara has poisoned ties between the NATO allies.


Turkey welcomed the planned withdrawal of some 2,000 US troops from Syria but the future of US-backed Kurdish militia forces there labelled terrorists by Ankara has poisoned US-Turkish ties (AFP Photo/Delil SOULEIMAN).

Erdogan said he had a “quite positive” telephone conversation with Trump late on Monday where he reaffirmed that “a 20-mile (30 kilometre) security zone along the Syrian border… will be set up by us.”

Damascus meanwhile denounced Erdogan’s “language of occupation” in talking about a security zone.

“The statements made today by the Turkish president reaffirm that this regime… does not deal (with anyone) except in the language of occupation and aggression,” state news agency SANA quoted a source at the Syrian foreign ministry as saying.

The Turkish army has launched two major operations in Syria dubbed “Euphrates Shield” in 2016 and “Olive Branch” in 2018 to combat Syrian Kurdish fighters as well as Islamic State jihadists.

But the last offensive sought to roll back gains by Syrian Kurdish fighters who have governed parts of northern Syria since 2012.

The deployment of Turkish troops and their proxy forces in areas of northwest Syria has drawn accusations by some critics of a Turkish military occupation.

“Comparing Turkey’s presence in Syria with that of any other state or power is an insult to both history and our civilisation,” Erdogan said.

– Turkey ‘to control zone’ –

Turkey is home to over three million Syrian refugees. Since early in the conflict, Ankara has called for a safe area backed up by a no-fly zone on its 900 kilometre (560 mile) border with Syria to protect civilians from air and ground attacks.

But support for the proposal has waned.


Territory control in Syria, as of December 21

The plan was mooted to Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, so that a safe structure could be provided for Syrian refugees on the condition that Washington provides logistics and air support, while Ankara supplies ground security, Erdogan said.

“Unfortunately Obama failed to take the necessary steps,” he said, speaking to journalists after his parliamentary address.

But after the discussion with Trump, Erdogan said that plan could be resurrected and the 20-mile “security zone” could be extended, if needed.

It could be created in cooperation with the US-backed international coalition fighting against IS, which Turkey is also a member of.

“We could create such a safe zone if coalition forces especially America provide logistical and financial support,” Erdogan said.

“That would also entirely prevent an influx (of refugees).”

The Turkish leader however dismissed any presence of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in that zone.

Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the security zone would “be controlled by Turkey, with the deployment of Turkish military, intelligence activity and the involvement of the locals.”

He said its modalities were being discussed with Washington, adding the Turkish army chief General Yasar Guler was due to meet Wednesday with his US counterpart in Brussels.

– ‘Trump’s tweets saddened me’ –

US support for the YPG during the Syria conflict has been a major source of friction between Ankara and Washington. The US regards the YPG as an effective ground force in the fight against IS jihadists.

Ankara has however threatened to launch a cross-border operation to eradicate Syrian Kurdish fighters it sees as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK, which has carried out a decades-long insurgency against Turkish forces, is blacklisted by Turkey as well as by the United States.

But there have been concerns in Washington that Kurdish groups are being abandoned to attacks in the future by the far more powerful Turkish military.

Erdogan on Tuesday said Trump’s tweet “saddened me and my friends”, but added that the two leaders reached an agreement “of historic importance” during Monday’s phone call.

The Turkish president said he would visit Russia on January 23 for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin over the US troop pullout plan.

© Agence France-Presse

Featured Photo: “US support for the YPG during the Syria conflict has been a major source of friction between the NATO allies. The US regards the YPG as an effective ground force in the fight against IS jihadists (AFP Photo/Delil SOULEIMAN).

Filed Under: Kurds, Syria, Turkey

About the Author

Fulya Ozerkan Is AFP correspondent in Istanbul. Her reporting has also appeared at Business Insider, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo, France 24, Mail & Guardian, The Times South Africa, and Middle East Eye . Follow her at @FulyaOzerkan.

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Antisemitism Awareness Act – Protecting Jews from What?
  • When Politics Leaves Reality Behind
  • Trump, the Suez Canal, and the end of Eisenhower's World Order
  • The Real Evil Empire May Surprise You
  • American Psycho: Trump's Delusional Crusade Transforms America into a Pariah State

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved