As the long-promised US-Turkish safe zone to the east of the Euphrates is nowhere near operation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should stop cooperating with the United States in Syria and seek partnership with Russia and Iran, Dogu Perincek, the leader of the Turkish Vatan political party, told Sputnik on Tuesday
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2019) As the long-promised US-Turkish safe zone to the east of the Euphrates is nowhere near operation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should stop cooperating with the United States in Syria and seek partnership with Russia and Iran, Dogu Perincek, the leader of the Turkish Vatan political party, told Sputnik on Tuesday.On August 7, following months of tensions between Ankara and Washington over the presence of Kurdish militants in northern Syria, the two NATO allies agreed to create a safe zone to the east of the Euphrates and a peace corridor. However, technical details have prevented the two countries from implementing the deal. Earlier in September, Erdogan said that US efforts on establishing the safe zone fell short of Ankara's expectations, while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the US of "dragging out" the process.
"The two-week period which Turkey gave to the United States to reach an agreement on a safe zone will be over in late September. I hope the idea of a 'peace corridor' will hit a wall and Erdogan's administration will seek a solution to the issue not with the United States, but with Russia, Syria and Iran," Perincek said.
According to him, a US-Turkey peace corridor will only exacerbate the Syrian crisis due to many unresolved issues.
The lawmaker also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement during Monday's Russia-Turkey-Iran summit in Ankara on supporting local operations by the Syrian military against radical Islamic terrorists.
"This is the only solution to the problem. Because Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity could be safeguarded by the Syrian army. But, as we see, it has not occurred to Erdogan's administration," Perincek added.
Turkey has played a considerable role in the Syrian civil war by supporting various opposition groups that are fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, while at the same time attacking the Kurdish forces located in the country despite Damascus' protests.
It is also one of the guarantor states of the Astana peace process in Syria, together with Russia and Iran.
