Erdogan to Discuss Syrian Deployment in 'Safe Zone' with Putin
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would discuss the deployment of Syrian forces in a planned “safe zone” in northern Syria during talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin next week.
Turkey agreed with the United States on Thursday to pause its military offensive in northeastern Syria for five days while Kurdish fighters withdrew from a “safe zone”.
Erdogan will visit Sochi for emergency talks with Putin on what steps to take next, according to Reuters.
Speaking at an opening ceremony in the central Turkish province of Kayseri, Erdogan also said Turkey would “crush the heads” of Kurdish militants in northern Syria if they did not withdraw from the area during the 120-hour period.
In an interview with broadcaster Kanal 7 on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey did not want to see a single Kurdish militant left in the planned "safe zone" in northern Syria at the end of a fragile ceasefire in the region.
He said Ankara expected YPG Kurdish militants to be removed from areas where the Syrian government has recently been deployed.
He also said Turkey and Russia will exchange views on the removal of the YPG militants from the northern Syrian cities of Manbij and Ayn al-Arab, also called Kobani, during talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi next week.
