DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2019) Damascus sees Turkey's recent announcement on establishing a security zone in Syria as a potential plot for fresh aggression against the Arab republic and is determined to defend itself "by all available means," a Syrian Foreign Ministry source said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, had reached an "understanding of historical importance" to establish a security zone in Syria during their phone conversation a day before. Ankara said that the Kurdish-dominated People's Protection Units (YPG) would not take part in establishing a security zone in northern Syria, adding that it would be Turkey that would control the zone.
"Syria emphasizes that the attempt to undermine its territorial integrity will be a clear aggression and occupation, as well as protection and support of international terrorism and impetus for its spread on behalf of Turkey, something that Syria has been fighting for eight years," the source said.
The source stressed that Damascus would be protecting its territory from any aggression, including the "Turkish occupation," by all available means.
Erdogan's statements, according to the source, prove that Turkey "protects terrorists at the talks in Astana and speaks only the language of occupation and aggression."
In early December, the Turkish president announced that Ankara was ready to launch a military operation against Kurdish militias � which it considers to be terrorist groups � on the eastern bank of the Euphrates as well as in Syria's Manbij, located near the Turkish border, if the United States did not facilitate the pullout of the militia from the region. Erdogan later said that the operation had been postponed following his December 14 phone conversation with Trump, who later announced plans to withdraw US troops from Syria.
On December 19, Trump said he decided to withdraw the 2,000 US troops stationed in Syria since the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) had been defeated. On Sunday, he confirmed that the "long overdue pullout from Syria" had started.
