APD | EU monitors Turkey-US safe zone initiative in Syria

By APD writer Aditya Nugraha

BRUSSELS, Sept. 14 (APD) - The European Union (EU) keeps following Turkey and the United States talks on the establishment of a safe zone in Syria, expecting it can avoid renews armed hostilities, an EU spokesperson said.

“We are trying to understand in more details what this would mean and entail,” EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said on Friday.

Any sustainable solution to the conflict in Syria requires “genuine political transition in line with the relevant UN Security Council resolution”, she said.

Turkish and the United States military officials have agreed on August 7 to set up a safe zone in northern Syria and develop a peace corridor to facilitate the movement of displaced Syrians who want to return home.

They also agreed to establish a joint operations center.

The agreement also envisaged the formation of security measures in addressing Turkey’s concerns on the non-existence of Kurdish armed group of YPG/PKK in the zone, the group of which US allies with sometimes.

The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, US, and EU for its 30-year of terror campaign against Turkey.

YPG/PKK has been responsible for the deaths of about 40,000 people during its campaign period.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)