After successful negotiations, the countries are now facing the creation of a security zone along the Turkish border with Syria and establishing a "peace corridor" for returning Syrian refugees. This means that Turkey's threat of an impending attack on Kurdish forces in Syria has been averted.

Turkey has stepped up the threat of launching an offensive against the YPG. The country sees the militia as a branch of the Kurdish party PKK, which for 35 years fought a bloody uprising on Turkish territory.

Joint control center

In the common safety zone, the two countries will open a management center to deal with the tensions.

The US is in a difficult position, as the country is partly allied with Turkey in NATO but also supports the YPG in the fight against the terrorist group IS. US Defense Minister Mark Esper has called a possible Turkish offensive in northern Syria "unacceptable", while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asserted the country's right to "eliminate all threats to its national security".

More than 3.5 million Syrian refugees live in Turkey, the highest number in the world.