Since striking a deal last week, Washington and Ankara have both remained tightlipped on the exact terms of the safe zone – how deep into Syrian territory it will reach, how far it will stretch along the border, what forces will patrol it, or how long it will be in place for.
US officials have since met with SDF commanders to discuss the proposals and search for a compromise between Syria’s Kurds and the Turkish government. During these meetings, the SDF set out their own vision for the ‘safe zone’.
In an interview with SDF-affiliated Hawar News on Thursday, Abdi said any tripartite agreement between the SDF, the US, and Turkey concerning a ‘safe zone’ on Syria’s border with Turkey should cover the full length of the shared border between Turkey and SDF-held territory.
“If there is an agreement, it should cover all areas of northeast Syria,” Abdi said.
“The agreement is intended to start from the area between Serekaniye [Ain al-Isa] and Tel-Abyad and then extend to the Kobani, Qamishlo, and Deirk areas,” and to be rolled out in stages.
A source who spoke to Al-Monitor said the reason the SDF wants a ‘safe zone’ along the entirely of the border is to prevent unilateral Turkish operations against the Kurds in future.
The depth of the zone has been a point of disagreement between Turkey, the US, and officials of the Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (NES), which is controlled by the SDF.
Turkey has insisted on a depth of 30-40 km, while Kurdish and American officials have argued the depth should be no more than 15 km.
Under the SDF proposal, this depth varies from place to place.
“Its depth will be 5 km in areas between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers but in Gire Spi [Tel-Abyad] and Serekaniye it will be 9 km and in other places it will reach 14 km,” Abdi said.
“There will be no cities within that area.”
The People’s Protection Units (YPG), which make up the backbone of the SDF, will withdraw 5 km from the border and local forces will take their place, Abdi said.
The SDF commander said their proposal rejects allowing Turkish reconnaissance flights over the ‘safe zone’. “We did not consider it necessary, and we consider it a threat to our military forces,” he said.
America’s relationship with the SDF, which led the ground war against the Islamic State group (ISIS) in northeast Syria, has long irked Ankara.
Turkey considers the SDF a threat to is national security – concerns the US has called “legitimate”.
“There is no reason for a Turkish attack on northeastern Syria. At the time, we asked our American partners to mediate between us and the Turkish state to resolve the issue through dialogue, not war,” Abdi said.
“We are confident that our project is more objective and reasonable and ensures the security of both parties. We are confident that our project will be implemented and will succeed,” he added.
Turkey and the US have established a coordination centre to work on the establishment of a peace corridor on Turkish borders with Syria. Turkey aims to return a number of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it hosts to this area.
Officials of both countries have held multiple meetings to reach an agreement over the buffer zone.
Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty, Deputy Commander of the United States European Command, this week met with Turkish commanders in Sanliurfa province near the Syrian border, according the Turkish Defense Ministry.
Twitty is expected to hold further meetings with Turkish officials on Friday.
Turkey consideres the YPG an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey.
The SDF has repeatedly said its forces do not pose any threats to neighboring Turkey.
Turkey has threatened to launch a fresh operation against the YPG in northern Syria. In early 2018, Operation Olive Branch forced the YPG back from the Turkish border and displaced tens of thousands of ethnic Kurds from Afrin.
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