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Wall Street Journal: US, Turkey Agree to Keep Syrian Kurds Out of Proposed Border Zone

05 August 2015 11:15 (UTC +04:00)

The area where Turkey hopes to establish the border zone is filled with ethnic Turkmen and Arabs and Turkish leaders fear that the Kurdish fighters will try to drive them out, Wall Street Journal reported.

U.S. officials have offered Turkey reassurances that they won’t rely on the YPG in that area, but have sought to give themselves wiggle room to work with the Kurdish fighters in that area if the needs arise.

Since last year the US has been launching air strikes on ISIL positions in support to YPG militants who are battling the extremist group in Syria.

The YPG advances have allowed Kurdish forces to establish authority over more Syrian territory than before the war, according to the Institute for the Study of War, which tracks control of land in the fight against Islamic State. The YPG victory over Islamic State in the town of Tal Abyad this summer established a physical link between two of the three Kurdish cantons for the first time.

The Turkish official said the government views the YPG as “more pragmatic and realistic” than the PKK.

But he sent a blunt warning to the YPG not to challenge that red line.