Turkey may withdraw troops from Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Trend reports referring to Turkish media.
He said that the withdrawal of the Turkish armed forces from Syria can take place only on the condition of a political settlement of the crisis in this country.
“However, unfortunately, the Syrian regime doesn’t want a political settlement of the conflict,” Cavusoglu said.
On January 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria. On August 24, 2016, units of the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the “Islamic State”, and liberated, with the support of the Syrian opposition, Al-Bab town and the border town of Jarabulus in northern Syria.
The safety zone in the north of Syria includes a territory 32 kilometers deep and 460 kilometers long along the Syrian border with Turkey. In the case of the creation of this zone, it will be divided into two parts, the first part will start from the Iraqi-Syrian border and will be extended to the Syrian city of Qamishli, because the Syrian government forces control this city.
The second part of the safety zone will start from Qamishli and will be extended to Jarabulus city, which was liberated from the terrorists of the “Islamic State” (IS) as part of the Operation Euphrates Shield conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in 2016.
The city of Manbij, where Turkey had previously intended to conduct anti-terrorist operations, is not a part of the safety zone.
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