ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A member of the umbrella group for a number of opposition parties in northeastern Syria said Saturday that they welcome a buffer zone in northern Syria as long as it covers all Kurdish areas in Syria and is overseen by the international coalition because it will “protect” Kurds from Syrian or Turkish offensives.
"If it [the safe zone] is under the supervision of the coalition - America and other countries , not just Turkey - it is a good thing as the people of the region - especially Kurds - will be protected from attacks by [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad and Turkey,” Jadan Ali of the Kurdish National Council (ENKS) told Rudaw English.
Ali added that the buffer zone should not just cover the Turkey-Syria border, but all Kurdish areas, as they are also vulnerable to attack by Assad’s forces.
“We want all of Rojava to be covered by the safe zone,” he said, using the Kurdish name for the northeast part of Syria officially known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (NES).
The ENKS have reiterated this stance in meetings with US, Russian and French officials to discuss Syrian issues, including the buffer zone, said Ali, who works at ENKS’ Kurdistan Region office.
An umbrella group for a number of Kurdish opposition parties in Rojava, the Kurdish National Council (ENKS) have close ties with the ruling party of Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
The ENKS and the ruling party in Rojava - the Democratic Union Party (PYD) - have been at odds for years over the governance of the area, leading to the arrest of a number of ENKS members and the closure of their offices.
Turkey has repeatedly threatened to invade Kurdish areas, but some Kurdish officials are warily hopeful the buffer zone will halt potential Turkish attacks.
Turkey and the US agreed on August 7 to establish a safe zone to de-escalate tensions between Turkey and the US-backed People’s Protection Units (YPG), and to act as a “peace corridor” to facilitate the return of 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
The YPG are the armed wing of the PYD, and form much of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that controls the NES area. The YPG dominates the SDF, but there are many Arab, Syriac Christian and other groups in the alliance as well.
Turkey considers the YPG an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara and involved in a four-decade long conflict with the Turkish state.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and a number of other Turkish commanders visited the southeastern Turkish province of Sanliurfa on Friday, where a joint operations center will be established by Turkey and the US to administer the planned buffer zone “in the coming days,” the pro-government Hurriyet Daily News reported Akar as saying.
Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty, Deputy Commander of the United States European Command, visited the same area on August 12 to oversee the operation center.
The SDF have said that the buffer zone should have a depth of five kilometers - and be governed by locals, under the supervision of the coalition.
Its commander, Mazloum Abdi, said on Thursday that they want the safe zone to cover all their borders with Turkey.
“If there is an agreement, it should cover all areas of northeast Syria,” Abdi said.
