Turkey: Syria ‘safe zone’ centre to operate next week

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s defence minister says a Turkish-U.S. co-ordinationcentre for a so-called “safe zone” in northern Syria will become fully operational next week.

Hulusi Akar also said Friday that Turkey and the United States had reached an agreement concerning the control of airspace over the planned safe zone but provided no further detail.

Akar spoke during a visit to Sanliurfa province bordering Syria, where Turkey and the United States agreed to establish a Joint Operation Center for the safe zone.

Turkey has been pushing for the establishment of a safe zone that would push out U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish militias from the border areas. Turkey considers the fighters to be terrorists allied with a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey.

Reports say the two countries have yet to reach agreement on the safe zone’s size.