Ankara is negotiating with Moscow and Damascus over other border areas in north-eastern Syria and in Manbij, said James Jeffrey, an American special envoy for Syria.
“Whether they will include this later in the Turkish-controlled safe zone has not been discussed in detail. Now this is not territory controlled by Turkey”, – he said.
Jeffrey explained that the US-Turkey agreement to suspend hostilities against the Kurds and establish a border security zone is focused “on the territories that Turkey has already occupied in northeast Syria”.
“This is basically a 30-kilometer zone, which is also an expensive, M4-M10”, – he said.
In general, his explanation is consistent with the position of the Kurds, who stated earlier that the agreements between the United States and Turkey concern a relatively small area, and not all border areas.
On Thursday, US Vice President Mike Pence said the US and Turkey were able to agree on a temporary ceasefire in northern Syria to allow the Kurdish People’s Self-Defense Forces to withdraw their forces. According to him, Kurdish formations will be withdrawn beyond the dividing line, which is located “about 20 miles south of the border” with Turkey, and that this process is already underway.
In turn, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a security zone is being created in northern Syria under the control of the Turkish military.
On October 9, Turkey launched Operation Source of Peace in the northeast of Syria to oust Kurdish militants from border areas. Because of this, the United States imposed sanctions against two Turkish ministries and three ministers.