‘Safe Zone’ Statement by Syria: US-Turkish Partnership in Aggression

* Photograph: AA / Archive

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Shortly after the US and Turkey delegations met in Ankara to negotiate the formation of a "safe zone" in northern Syria, the government of Syria has indicated that the "safe zone" in question "constitutes a flagrant aggression against Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

As reported by Syria's official news agency SANA, an official from Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke to the agency and stated the following:

'A flagrant violation of international law'

"Syria expresses categorical rejection of the agreement announced by the US and Turkish occupations on establishing the so-called safe zone, which constitutes a blatant aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and a flagrant violation of the principles of the international law and the United Nations (UN) Charter.

"This agreement has very clearly exposed the US-Turkish partnership in the aggression against Syria, which serves the interest of the Israeli occupation entity and Turkish expansionist ambitions and it unequivocally exposed the misleading and evasiveness governing the policies of Turkish regime.

'Allusions on reviving the Ottoman Sultanate'

"Syria calls on the Arab people to be aware of the dangers of the expansionist ambitions of Turkish regime, which is spreading killing and chaos in different parts of the Arab world from Syria to Libya and Sudan and it will not stop till it will satisfy its illusions on reviving the Ottoman Sultanate.

"Syria calls on the international community and the UN to condemn the US-Turkish flagrant aggression which constitutes a dangerous escalation and poses a threat to peace and security in the region and the world and hinders all positive efforts for finding a solution to the crisis in Syria."

A brief history of 'safe zone' discussions

Suggested by US President Donald Trump on January 13, 2019, the "safe zone" is expected to cover a depth of 32 kilometers and a line of 460 kilometers along the Turkey-Syria borderline.

On December 19, 2018, Trump announced that the US would withdraw its troops from Syria. In the same period, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey was preparing for an operation against the east of Euphrates.

In his tweet on January 13, Trump said that "in case Turkey strikes the Kurds in Syria, they will devastate Turkey economically", announcing that they will form a 32-kilometer safe zone in the region. (AÖ/SD)