Turkish drones start operating in northern Syria, says ministry

Turkish drones start operating in northern Syria, says ministry
Syrian boys play with plastic guns on the first day of the Muslim religious festival of Eid al-Adha in al-Dana in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib region, near the border with Turkey, on August 11, 2019. (AFP)
Updated 14 August 2019
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Turkish drones start operating in northern Syria, says ministry

Turkish drones start operating in northern Syria, says ministry
  • Turkey and the US agreed last week to set up a joint operations center regarding the safe zone to be established in northern Syria

ISTANBUL: Turkish drones have started operating in northern Syria where Washington and Ankara have agreed to create a safe zone, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Turkey and the US agreed last week to set up a joint operations center regarding the safe zone to be established in northern Syria. No agreement has been announced on key details such as the size of the zone and the command structure of joint patrols that would be conducted there.

FASTFACT

Turkey and the US agreed last week to set up a joint operations center regarding the safe zone to be established in northern Syria.

A six-person US delegation arrived in the southern Turkish province of Sanliurfa on Monday to work on the establishment of the operations center. The Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that work was continuing to make the joint operations center in Sanliurfa operational. Turkish drones had started carrying out work in the area where the safe zone will be created, but did not provide further information on the drones’ operations, it added.

Washington and Ankara have been at odds over plans for northeastern Syria, where US allies on the ground in the battle against Daesh militants.