DAMASCUS: Damascus said Thursday it strongly rejects a proposed US-Turkish buffer zone for northern Syria, blaming the "aggressive" project on Syria's Kurds, who gave the proposal a guarded welcome.
Turkish and US officials agreed on Wednesday to establish a joint operations centre to oversee the creation of a safe zone to manage tensions between Ankara and US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria.
No details were provided on the size or nature of the safe zone, but the deal appeared to provide some breathing room after Turkey had threatened an imminent attack on the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which control a large swathe of northern Syria.
"Syria categorically and clearly rejects the agreement between the American and Turkish occupiers on the establishment of a so-called safe zone" in northern Syria, a foreign ministry source told state news agency SANA.
"Syria's Kurds who have accepted to become a tool in this aggressive US-Turkish project bear a historical responsibility," the source added, urging Kurdish groups to return to the fold.
Turkey has already carried out two cross-border offensives into Syria in 2016 and 2018, the second of which saw it and allied Syrian rebels overrun the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in the northwest.
The deployment of Turkish troops and their proxies in Afrin has drawn accusations of a Turkish military occupation.
Damascus said the planned buffer zone further east serves "Turkey's expansionist ambitions," accusing both Ankara and Washington of violating its sovereignty.
A senior Syrian Kurdish official gave the Turkish-US agreement a guarded welcome.
"This deal may mark the start of a new approach but we still need more details," Aldar Khalil told AFP on Thursday.
"We will evaluate the agreement based on details and facts, not headlines."
Turkey's foreign minister on Thursday said the deal was "a very good start".
But Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country would not allow the agreement to turn into a "delaying manoeuvre".
"The accord must be implemented," he said at a press conference in Ankara, without giving a specific timeline.
Wednesday's deal describes the planned safe zone as a "peace corridor" that can "ensure that our Syrian brothers will be able to return to their country".
Turkey has the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world at more than 3.6 million, and has faced increasing pressure domestically to speed up repatriations to peaceful parts of Syria.
While the Kurds have largely stayed out of the conflict between various rebel groups and the Damascus government, they have taken advantage of the war to set up an autonomous region in the northeast.
Across the border, Turkey has eyed this push for increased independence with suspicion, regarding its Kurdish leaders as "terrorists".
Ankara views the YPG as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a bloody insurgency inside Turkey for the past 35 years.
But the YPG has been a key US ally in the fight against Daesh.
As the fight against Daesh winds down in northeastern Syria, the prospect of a US military withdrawal has stoked Kurdish fears of a long threatened Turkish attack.
To allay these fears, Washington earlier this year proposed setting up a 30-kilometre (18-mile) "safe zone" on the Syrian side of the border.
The Kurds have agreed to a buffer zone, but disagree with the Turks on how wide it should be, or who should control it.
Earlier this week, Khalil said the Kurds had agreed to a buffer zone around five kilometres wide, but Turkey rejected the proposal.
He also said the Kurds had opened channels with the Russia-backed government, but it had not yet "made its true position clear despite the urgency of the situation".
Wednesday's deal comes at a delicate moment between Turkey and the US, who have grown increasingly estranged over a number of issues, including American support for the Kurds and Turkey's decision to buy a Russian S-400 missile defence system.
It is also a tricky moment for Erdogan domestically after his party lost control of Istanbul and Ankara in municipal elections this year, and has seen high-profile defections.
In recent weeks, Turkish media have repeatedly shown images of military convoys heading for the border area, carrying equipment and fighting units.
Damascus rejects Turkey-US plan, Kurds give guarded welcome
Damascus rejects Turkey-US plan, Kurds give guarded welcome
- Damascus said the planned buffer zone further east serves "Turkey's expansionist ambitions," accusing both Ankara and Washington of violating its sovereignty
- Turkey has the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world at more than 3.6 million, and has faced increasing pressure domestically to speed up repatriations to peaceful parts of Syria
’Not much is standing’ in Gaza, says UN official
- “We can’t wait, we can’t procrastinate,” da Silva said, adding that Gazans across the territory were living in an “inhumane situation“
- He said the launch of phase two of the Gaza truce plan marked a “historical” moment
JERUSALEM: A top United Nations official on Thursday called for accelerating reconstruction work in Gaza, saying Palestinians there were living in “inhumane” conditions, even as a US-backed truce entered its second phase.
“I wouldn’t have imagined what I saw today, which is total destruction, not much is standing,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) told journalists after a visit to the Gaza Strip.
“We can’t wait, we can’t procrastinate,” he said, adding that Gazans across the territory were living in an “inhumane situation.”
The two-year war between Hamas and Israeli forces has left Gaza facing destruction on a scale unseen in previous conflicts, with vast swathes reduced to rubble.
Entire residential neighborhoods, hospitals, schools and basic infrastructure have been heavily damaged or destroyed, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to live in makeshift shelters.
Da Silva said the launch of phase two of the Gaza truce plan marked a “historical” moment that should be seized to kick-start reconstruction efforts.
“This opens the opportunities for reconstruction, knowing that we will need $52 billion, according to the assessment conducted by the World Bank, UN and the European Commission, for the reconstruction of Gaza,” he said.
“But the point is we can’t wait for the big reconstruction, which requires billions, to immediately launch the early recovery that requires millions.”
On Wednesday, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff announced the start of phase two of the Gaza ceasefire, saying it aimed to pave the way for reconstruction and the demilitarization of all armed factions in the territory.
The war was triggered by the Palestinian Islamist group’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The ensuing Israeli offensive has devastated Gaza, home to about 2.2 million people, a territory that was already suffering severely from previous rounds of fighting and from an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007.
Da Silva said the war had left about 60 million tons of rubble scattered across the strip.
“Gaza is flooded by rubble and debris,” he said.
“The problem is not just the volume of rubble, it’s also the fact that its content is quite a matter of concern, with unexploded ordnance in the rubble, dangerous waste, and unfortunately also human remains.”
The environmental and urban planning specialist said one of the most urgent priorities was ensuring reliable access to fuel — a critical resource in Gaza, where most electricity is generated by fuel-powered generators.
He also cited the need for demining, rebuilding water supply networks, lifting restrictions on the entry of aid, and allowing in spare parts required for repairs — long-standing demands by humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza.
Aid groups have for months complained of difficulties bringing in equipment and supplies, blaming Israeli restrictions.
Israel rejects those accusations, saying it oversees the entry of goods into Gaza to ensure its security.
