Ankara and Washington yesterday launched their first joint patrols near the Turkish border in the Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria, pursuant to an agreement reached to establish a "safe area" and prevented Turkey from launching a military operation. For its part, Damascus condemned in the strongest terms the conduct of joint patrols, stressing that «this step constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and aggression described in the full sense of the word».
In detail, the joint US-Turkish patrols began yesterday in the Tal Abyad area near the Turkish border in northern Syria.
According to Agence France-Presse, the entry of six Turkish armored vehicles to the Syrian side to join the US armored vehicles, before the first joint patrols under the agreement reached on August 7.
It aims to create a secure zone separating the control areas of the YPG, the backbone of the SDF, and the Turkish border.
The first joint US-Turkish patrols were launched yesterday in the Tal Abyad area in the northern countryside of Raqqa.
A source said that six Turkish armored vehicles entered the Syrian territory to join the US armor, coinciding with the flight of two military helicopters in the atmosphere of the region.
According to an AFP photographer, an ambulance and a pickup truck escorted the joint armored vehicles that headed east after entering Syria.
About three hours later, the patrols ended and the Turkish vehicles returned to Turkey, according to an AFP correspondent in the Tal Abyad area.
The joint chairman of the Tal Abyad Military Council of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Riad Khamis, said that the date of the next patrols is not yet clear, pointing out that they were limited yesterday, a few kilometers east of Tel Abyad.
He stressed «We are implementing the agreement and we have no problem in it, as long as the mechanism of war away from our land and our people».
Damascus has condemned the measure, and has previously declared its "categorical refusal" to establish a "safe area", joint patrols. A source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry, according to the official Syrian News Agency (SANA), that «Syria condemns in the strongest terms the US administration and the Turkish regime to conduct joint patrols», saying that «this step represents aggression described in the full sense of the word, and aims to complicate and prolong the crisis» In syria.
The source reaffirmed Damascus' absolute rejection of the so-called safe zone.
The source said that «the Syrian Arab Republic, while reiterating its absolute rejection of the so-called safe area, it confirms the determination and determination to drop all projects aimed at the unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic».
Damascus has previously blamed the Kurds, who condemn their alliance with Washington, accusing them of being a "tool of the Turkish-American aggressive project."
The Syrian Democratic Forces also pledged earlier to make all necessary efforts to make the agreement a success and destroyed military fortifications in the border area. The Kurdish self-administration began 10 days ago to withdraw groups of Kurdish units from the border area around the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, as well as heavy weapons.
Instead of Kurdish units, the self-administration established local military councils of local fighters to protect their areas.
The Kurdish units, which Ankara classifies as a terrorist organization, are the backbone of the SDF, the main partner of the Washington-led international coalition against ISIS.
• 6 Turkish armored vehicles entered the Syrian territory to join the American armor, coinciding with the flight of two military helicopters in the atmosphere of the region.