US State Department Denies Turksih Regime’s Claims about Agreement with Washington on ‘Safe Zones’ in Northern Syria

WASHINGTON- (ST)- The US State Department has denied claimes made by the Turksih regime that Washington and Ankara have reached an agreement on setting up a so-called “safe zone” inside northern Syria.

The US State Department said in a statement reported by “Russia Today” Correspondant in Washington that the agreement reached between the United States and Turkey provided for enhancing cooperation and figting ISIL terrorist organization.  The correspondant pointed out that six F16 fighter jets plus 300 American soldiers had arrived in the Turkish Incirlik Air Base to fight ISIL terrorists, as the State Department said.  

 Earlier on Tuesday, CNN Turk cited a senior Turkish diplomat as claiming that the two countries had agreed to create an area 98 kilometers (61 miles) long and 45 kilometers (28 miles) wide to be patrolled by the so-called “Free Syrian Army”, which is fighting the Syrian government.

Asked about the claims, however, U.S. State Department Mark Toner said: “There’s no agreement on some kind of zone.”

“We’ve been pretty clear from the podium and elsewhere saying there’s no zone, no safe haven, we’re not talking about that here. What we’re talking about is a sustained effort to drive ISIL out of the region,” Toner told a news briefing, Reuters reported.

Hamda Mustafa