Erdogan tells Putin Syria ‘safe zone’ is ‘imperative’

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday that construct a “safe zone” inside Syria near the Turkish border, According to his office,

Russia and Turkey agreed in 2019 that Russian military police and Syrian border guards would begin driving a Syrian Kurdish militia 30 kilometers (19 miles) away from the Turkish border.

Ankara views the militia as a terrorist organization.

Erdogan told Putin in a phone call that “a terror-free zone with a depth of 30 kilometers from the Turkish border… was not established, and that it’s imperative to make these areas secure,” according to the Turkish presidency.

He pointed to the Kurdish militants’ “continued attacks” aimed at Turkey.

Erdogan said last week Turkey would soon launch a new military operation into northern Syria to create a “safe zone” along the border.

The United States has warned against launching a new operation, saying the uneasy NATO ally would be putting US troops at risk.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched three offensives into Syria, all with the goal of crushing Syrian Kurdish fighters who have aided the US-led campaign against the Islamic State extremist group.

Ankara claims these fighters are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984 and is designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States.