Erdogan acknowledges Syrian control of any safe zone

DISCLOSURE: Sourced from Russian government funded media

Erdogan says he has no objection to Damascus’ control over northeastern Syria

…from Southfront

[ Editor’s Note: OK, it looks like we may be over the hump of this silliness of decisions being made about the security of Syria’s border with Turkey without Syria’s direct involvement.

Questions will still remain about Kurdish units integrated with the Syrian military “securing” the area. Will the YPG be shifted to other less sensitive areas, or will it be disbanded and absorbed into the Syrian military under one command? Will it be morphed into a national guard?

It seems like Erdogan is more concerned with his economy in free fall and that weakening his political power at home. Turkey is a great tourist designation now, with the lira in the toilet.

If the Kurdish border simmers down, maybe this diplomatic progress can slide over to Idlib where the situation is reversed. It is Turkey who is supporting Muslim jihad terrorism in Syria, so maybe Syria should impose the Jim Dean plan, a 30-kilometer “safe zone” inside Turkey to prevent jihadis, weapons and supplies moving over the border.

That would be an interesting discussion. I have this wonderful video of an Erdogan adviser, in Turkish, explaining to the host how he tried to get the jihadis to calm things down in Idlib, as they already controlled it and raising hell there was going to keep getting them bombed by the SAA.

He suggested that if they wanted to kill infidels, the jihadis should go to Damascus, Homs, Latakia, Deir Ezzor, anywhere in Syria and knock themselves out.

I don’t ever remember seeing an interview with this kind of content, not a secret communication, but on a Turkish television show – a journalism gift from the gods. You just can’t make this stuff up... Jim W. Dean ]

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– First published … October 18, 2019 –

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that he will discuss the situation in northeast Syria with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in their upcoming meeting on October 22.

“There will be a meeting with Putin in Sochi on Tuesday. Our aim is to identify an acceptable solution. We want the areas under the control of the Syrian government to be cleared of militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] and the Self Defense Forces [YPG],” told a news conference in Istanbul on October 18, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

The Turkish President went on to state that he has no objections against placing the “safe-zone” under the Damascus government’s control.

On October 9, the Turkish military and its Syrian proxies launched a large-scale military operation to establish the “safe-zone” in northeast Syria. However, a breakthrough deal between Damascus and Kurdish forces allowed Syrian troops to enter the region, which limited the movement of Turkish forces.

Facing this unexpected development, Turkey accepted a US-proposed ceasefire which would force Kurdish forces out of the designated “safe-zone.” Less than 24 hours after its beginning, the ceasefire appears to be collapsing, with both side not fulfilling their commitments.

Erdogan’s new statements indicate that Ankara likely hopes to strike a deal with Moscow that would force Kurdish forces out of the “safe-zone” in exchange for the deployment of the Syrian military.

Jim W. Dean

Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus.  He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022.  He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews.  He now writes and posts periodically for VT.

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