The deadline expires without an American response .. Turkey confirms that it will establish a safe area in Syria to return the refugees

The deadline set by Ankara to create a safe zone in partnership with Washington in northern Syria ended Monday without a clear US response. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presided over a security meeting in which he announced Turkey's intention to establish this region for the return of Syrian refugees.

After the meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Erdogan, the council said in a statement that "Turkey will further strengthen its sincere efforts regarding the establishment of a safe area in Syria, in order to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their homes as soon as possible, where Turkey addresses the issue of refugees as Humanitarian issue. "

The statement stressed that Turkey respects the territorial integrity and political unity of Syria, supports a political solution based on Syria's new constitution, and shares this with the international community at every opportunity.

The meeting came after a deadline set by Erdogan to launch a unilateral military operation in northern Syria if a "safe zone" was not established with the United States by the end of this month.

Bloomberg said the Turkish president's anxiety grew after he failed to meet US President Donald Trump last week in New York.

The US envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey, warned last Thursday that "any unilateral operation will not lead to any improvement in security for anyone," because it may affect the course of the battles led by Kurdish forces against the Islamic State.

Turkey and the United States agreed last August to establish a "joint operations center" to coordinate and manage the establishment of a "safe area" in northern Syria, and joint patrols between the two countries in the region.

The suffering of refugees
According to the Turkish Immigration Department, about 800 thousand people from the east of the Euphrates have been displaced to the cities of southern Turkey within four years, with the continued control of the State and Kurdish units on their areas.

Al-Jazeera correspondent says that the displaced find themselves a card that is being shaken by various parties.Turkey wants to reduce their number - 3.6 million according to the Turkish government - by moving them to a safe area, while Kurdish units fear that their return would constitute a demographic change that reduces their chance to form a Kurdish majority in the region.

Leaked images from the Raqqa countryside last year showed violations described by Amnesty International as war crimes committed by Kurdish units against Arab civilians.