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U.S. hopes to work with Turkey on creating security zone in northwest Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is on an official tour of Europe, started his trip in London, where he met with British Prime Minister Theresa May, during which Iran has reportedly dominated their conversation. Among other global and regional issues discussed, the American top diplomat consulted with the British Prime Minister on the latest developments in Syria, where Turkey has launched an operation against the Kurdish-YPG militia, the most powerful militant group in the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance, which is backed by the US-led coalition in its fight against the Islamic State.

Following his meeting with Prime Minister May, Secretary Tillerson travelled to Paris for scheduled meetings with French officials. During the flight, a reporter traveling with the American top diplomat quoted Tillerson as saying: “The United States hopes to work with Turkey to try to create a security zone in Northwest Syria to meet its legitimate security needs.” Turkey, however, is furious by Washington’s support of the pre-dominantly Kurdish alliance in northern Syria and demands of the US-led coalition to immediately terminate all its cooperation and backing, or else face the consequences of losing Turkish cooperation in Syria. In a briefing to journalists in Ankara, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Dozdag said, “If they (the U.S.) want cooperation, we are ready for this cooperation. As the first step to take, they can stop arming terror groups and take back the weapons already given (to YPG),” the Turkish deputy Prime Minister warned.

Turkish forces, together with their Syrian rebel allies, began a coordinated push on Saturday to clear Syria’s northwestern border enclave, Afrin Province, of YPG fighters – as Ankara considers the YPG to be an extension of the PKK, an internationally recognized terror group that has waged a three-decade insurgency against Turkey.