Turkey-US top army chiefs discuss safe zone in northern Syria

The establishment of a safe zone in the east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria should be set up without any delay, the chief of Turkish General Staff said to his U.S. counterpart on Saturday.

In a phone call, Gen. Yaşar Güler explained U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford the views and expectations of Turkey about the region, adding that the formation of the safe zone should be done "within the framework of the principles set in the calendar", the Defense Ministry said in a written statement.

Turkish and U.S. military officials reached an agreement on Aug. 7 that a planned safe zone in northern Syria will serve as a "peace corridor" for displaced Syrians wanting to return home and that a Joint Operations Center in Turkey will be set up to coordinate its establishment.

The agreement also envisaged setting up necessary security measures to address Turkey's security concerns, including clearing the zone of the terrorist YPG/PKK, a group the U.S. has sometimes been allied with, over Turkey's objections.

The YPG/PKK is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror group, which for more than 30 years has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people in Turkey, including many children, women, and infants.