The safe area in northern Syria in stages .. Ankara warns Washington from procrastination in implementation

Turkey has called on the United States not to delay the implementation of their agreement on the establishment of a safe area in northeastern Syria, at a time when Washington confirmed that the agreement will be implemented in stages.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday at a news conference in Ankara that Washington should act honestly and that his country would no longer accept the policy of procrastination.

He added that the Americans had stalled in the past in the implementation of an agreement to remove the Kurdish People's Protection Units from the city of Manbij in the eastern countryside of Aleppo on the west bank of the Euphrates.

He pointed out that there are issues within the Turkish-American agreement on the safe area should be specified in details, and stressed the need to remove Kurdish units from the area east of the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border east to become a safe area.

The Turkish minister said US President Donald Trump had promised a safe area on the Syrian border at a depth of 20 miles (32 kilometers), while criticizing Washington's continued support for Syrian Kurdish militants who control parts of the provinces of Aleppo, Hasaka and Raqqa to the Iraqi border.

At the same time, Gavishoglu confirmed that Turkish drones began flights over the safe area to be established east of the Euphrates River in Syria.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced earlier this week the commencement of work related to the formation of the Joint Operations Center and the conduct of flights of Turkish drones in northern Syria, in preparation for the establishment of the safe area.

For Washington, the deal is an alternative to a military operation that Ankara is still waving east of the Euphrates against Kurdish units to remove its threat from the Turkish border as a "terrorist organization" that is an extension of the PKK.

The Turkish and US sides agreed on three points regarding the safe area in northeastern Syria, namely the existence of a peace corridor, a joint operations room, the removal of Turkey's security concerns on its southern border, as well as measures to ensure the return of displaced Syrians to their country.

in stages
For its part, said the Pentagon said yesterday that the agreement with Turkey on the safe area will be implemented gradually, which was confirmed earlier by a US official for the island.

A spokesman for the ministry said that the United States is ready to start some activities quickly, while pursuing talks with the Turkish side.

In this context, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ankara, citing the Turkish Ministry of Defense, continued work related to the formation of a joint operations center with the United States on the safe area to be established in northern Syria.

The ministry said in a statement today that the deputy commander of US forces in Europe, General Stephen Tweety will pay an official visit to Ankara to meet with Turkish military leaders.

She added that Tweety will then travel to the city of ليanlıurfa (southern Turkey) to see the work related to the formation of the joint operations center between the two countries.

The proposed safe zone aims to secure a land sector stretching more than 400 kilometers along Syria's northeastern border with Turkey. US-backed Kurdish units control most of the sector.

During the recent negotiations, the Turkish side stuck to a safe zone between 30 and 40 kilometers deep in Syria, while the Americans wanted it to be much deeper.