​Towards a deal with US in Syria?

TURKEY - In Brief 15 Jan 2019 by Atilla Yesilada

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The ebb and tide of the bromance between presidents Erdogan and Trump ought to be subject of inquiry for Hollywood screen writers and psychologists, but as a humble political commentator, I’m compelled to focus only on the very boring angle of Syria, which is one of the most pressing points of tension between Turkey and US.I think this time I have good tidings for our audience, to borrow a phrase from economy czar Mr. Albayrak who chose it to label the daily economic measures being rolled out to address the weakness in the economy. After a very impolite late-night tweet from Trump threatening to "devastate" Turkey's economy if its forces attacked the US-backed Kurdish fighters, tensions flared up once again, but a phone call on Monday with Erdogan seems to have precipitated a break-through.Erdogan declared to his parliamentary caucus that “The safe zone issue, including a safe zone along Turkey’s borders that will be formed by us – an issue that I have brought up since the Obama era – was reiterated by him as 20 miles.” It appears that the idea of “a safe zone” at the Turkish-Syrian border to the South of which pro-PKK PYD-YPG Kurdish entity holds sway, namely a 20 mile “cordon sanitaire” to be established to fend off PKK infiltration in return for non-aggression towards PYD-YPG is now the basis of negotiations between two capitols.I shall cover the details that need to be ironed out in the upcoming Weekly Report, but the following quote from Hurriyet daily News is critical: “Ankara expects Washington to clarify the issue of a safe zone at a working group meeting on Syria between Turkish and U.S. officials in Washington on Feb. 5 which would be crucial for discussions ...