Pentagon sends team to scout Syria safe zone
A US delegation is in Turkey to coordinate on a safe zone in Syria, but despite the seeming progress, there is no indication of agreement on its size and other details.
The Donald Trump administration has sent a military delegation to coordinate with Turkey on establishing a safe zone in Syria, even as the Pentagon faced outstanding differences about the size and extent of the area to separate Ankara and US-backed Kurdish forces.
The composition of the group was not clear, though the Turkish Ministry of Defense said in a statement that a delegation of six Americans arrived in southeastern Turkey today for talks to forge the zone.
“Work is underway to establish a Joint Action Center for the Safe Zone, which is planned to be coordinated with the US in the north of Syria,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a Monday statement. “In this context, a delegation of six people reached Sanliurfa for preliminary preparation.” Turkey said the center would be up and running “in the coming days.”
But US officials remained circumspect about where the safe zone deal was headed on Monday as the Trump administration tries to ensure the Islamic State’s permanent defeat in Syria despite a diminishing American footprint in the war-torn country.
