Turkey rejects Trump threats and seeks to establish a safe zone in northern Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump have discussed the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria after Turkish Foreign Minister Mouloud Gawishoglu said his country was not afraid of Trump's threats.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that a telephone conversation was held Monday evening between the two presidents to discuss the establishment of a safe area in northern Syria. Erdogan also told Turkey's readiness to provide full support to facilitate the US withdrawal from Syria.

The Anatolia news agency reported that Erdogan and Trump had agreed to lift economic ties between their countries to the highest level.

Prior to the meeting, the Turkish foreign minister told a news conference with his counterpart in Luxembourg, Jean Aslburn, that what he described as the American economic threats associated with units of protection of the Kurdish people will not terrorize Turkey.

He stressed, however, that Turkey is not against a safe area talked about by Washington as a solution to prevent the implementation of Turkey's military operation against Kurdish units east of the Euphrates River in Syria.

At the same time, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalan called on Washington to respect the partnership between the two countries. He said that the fighters of the Kurdish units - considered by Turkey as a terrorist organization and extension of the PKK - are no different from the organization of the Islamic state and can not be partners and allies of the United States.

The head of the Turkish presidency, Fakhruddin Alten, said his country would continue to fight terrorism with determination, stressing that Turkey is not an enemy of the Kurds. The Republican People's Party (CHP), Turkey's largest opposition party, also rejected threats and said it would not work with Turkey.

"We will destroy Turkey economically if they attack the Kurds," Trump said in a statement on Friday. He called for the establishment of a safe zone with a width of 30 kilometers, without specifying its borders and funding.

Last year, the US president imposed economic sanctions on Turkey, including increased tariffs on his country's steel and aluminum imports, and contributed mainly to a sharp drop in the Turkish lira.

Safe borders
In his remarks in Riyadh, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today that Trump means destroying Turkey's economy by imposing economic sanctions on it.

With regard to the safe area promoted by Washington to be established on the Turkish-Syrian border, Pompeo said that the goal of protecting the Kurds and Turkey at the same time, adding that his country wants a safe border, and non-violence to all parties, as he put it.

Pompio said yesterday in Abu Dhabi after a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart expressed his optimism to reach a formula that guarantees the security of Turkey and protects Syrian Kurdish militants after the withdrawal of US troops from Syria.

On the ground, new reinforcements of the Turkish army arrived today to the southern province of Hatay for distribution to units stationed on the border with Syria, amid preparations for a possible Turkish military operation against Kurdish units east of the Euphrates River in Syria.

Last week, Washington withdrew military vehicles from a base near the city of Ain al-Arab (Kubani) in the eastern suburb of Aleppo, while the US Defense Department confirmed that it had not withdrawn any US troops from a total of about 2,000 troops stationed in Syria.