The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that drones have started operating in northern Syria where Washington and Ankara have agreed to create a safe zone.
In a tweet posted on its Twitter account, the Ministry said, “Efforts are underway to make the Joint Operations Center in the southeastern Turkish province of Sanliurfa operational as soon as possible.”
However, the statement did not provide further information on the drones’ operations.
Last week, Turkey and the US agreed on the establishment of a Joint Operations Center for the coordination and management of the planned safe zone in northern Syria. No agreement has been announced on key details such as the size of the zone and the command structure of joint patrols that would be conducted there.
Six US military personnel, who will be involved in the work of the coordination center for joint operations, arrived in Turkey last Monday to discuss details of the planned security zone in northern Syria.
In this context, the US delegation toured the Syrian border stretching along with the Sanliurfa province as efforts began to set the infrastructure of the center.
Meanwhile, some reports quoting Kurdish sources said that the form of the security mechanisms between Washington and Ankara east Euphrates do not differ much from the roadmap established in Manbij, west Euphrates.
The sources said that Ankara and the Coalition forces agreed to joint patrols at a depth of 7 kilometers and that Syrian Democratic Forces would remove their fortifications inside the 20-30 safe zone to guarantee that the range of their arms does not reach the Turkish borders.
The sources added that from the US point of view, this zone should create a peace corridor for the Syrian refugees wishing to return to their homeland without affecting the demographic balance of this area.
They said that the ongoing US-Turkish talks reveal that Washington is keen on protecting its SDF allies.
