Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced today that Ankara's forces will establish the "security zone" in Syria, which was discussed by US President Donald Trump, to separate the Kurdish people's protection units and the Turkish border. Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem discussed with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy, Ger Pederson, efforts to make progress in the political process of the crisis in Syria, announcing his country's readiness to cooperate with him in order to facilitate the Syrian-Syrian dialogue.
"During a telephone conversation, Trump suggested that we establish a security zone, with a width of more than 30 kilometers, along the Turkish border," Erdogan said.
Erdogan, speaking before his parliamentary bloc in Ankara, said he was convinced he had reached a "mutual understanding of historical significance" with Trump during their telephone conversation last night. "Turkey is also the state of our Kurdish brothers," he said.
"The comparison of the Turkish presence in Syria, with the presence of other powers, is an insult to our history," he said.
Turkish newspaper Daily Turk quoted Erdogan as telling Trump that Turkey would do its part to settle matters related to Syria.
"President Donald Trump reaffirmed the call to withdraw US troops from Syria and we decided to continue bilateral talks on all matters related to Syria, including a buffer zone along Turkey's border," Erdogan said.
"Trump has again been informed that Turkey is giving priority to an effective fight against the organization of Da'ash and other terrorist organizations in Syria," he said, adding that he also assured the US president that Ankara welcomes, with open arms, anyone fleeing Syria, regardless of ethnicity or And that "the units of protection of the Kurdish people" practiced persecution against all those who are not governed by the rule of Arabs, Kurds or Christians.
The Turkish presidency said on Monday evening that Erdogan and Trump discussed the establishment of a "security zone" in Syria during their conversation, but this is the first time that Turkey will establish it.
The area, which Turkey has been seeking to build for several years, aims to separate the Turkish border from the positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units in northern Syria.
"The threat by President Donald Trump to destroy Turkey economically if attacked," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, "is what Trump meant by destroying Turkey's economy."
While the Kurdish People's Protection Units are backed by Washington against the Da'ash organization, Ankara considers it a "terrorist" group closely linked to the PKK, which has been leading a rebellion against Ankara for more than 30 years.
In recent years, Turkey has repeatedly threatened to launch a new offensive against Kurdish people's protection units, with the aim of avoiding the nucleus of a Kurdish state near its border, which could encourage Kurdish separatism in Turkey.
Differences over the Kurdish people's protection units between Turkey and the United States, allies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), have worsened their relations two years ago.
Turkey welcomed the decision by the US president last month to withdraw US troops from Syria. However, it quickly protested the statements made by US officials linking the withdrawal of US forces from Syria to the safety of Kurdish fighters.
On the other hand, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem discussed with the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Nader Pedersen, efforts to make progress in the political process of the crisis in Syria and follow up the ideas related to the political process.
The Syrian minister expressed his country's readiness to cooperate with him in order to facilitate the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in order to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria, which is in Syria's interest, leading to the elimination of terrorism and ending the illegal foreign presence on the whole. Syrian territory, and effectively preserves the unity, sovereignty and independence of Syria. "
"During the meeting, they discussed the efforts exerted to make progress in the political process of the crisis in Syria and follow up the ideas related to the political process," the official SANA news agency said.
He welcomed the new position of Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Syria, and expressed Syria's readiness to cooperate with him in order to facilitate the Syrian-Syrian dialogue with a view to reaching a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
In turn, the Special Envoy expressed his happiness to visit Damascus in the beginning of the exercise of his duties, pointing out that he asked her visit to listen carefully to the point of view of the Syrian government, in order to succeed his mission and move forward in the political track.
Pedersen arrived earlier in Damascus on his first official visit since taking office.
On the other hand, warned the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday, Iran to keep troops in Syria, and demanded to remove them «quickly», or else Israel will continue to target them.
"Let me give them advice - get out of there quickly, because we will continue our strong policy of attacking them, without fear or perseverance," he said.