Syria's Tomorrow Movement leader Ahmad Jarba’s proposal would include between 8,000 and 12,000 of the opposition movement’s “elite forces” as well as fighters from the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga.
U.S. President Donald Trump put forward the idea of a 20-mile safe zone along the Turkish border to separate Turkish forces from the Syrian Kurdish groups that control Northern Syria east of the Euphrates river.
The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have played a crucial role in the U.S.-backed coalition against the Islamic State. However, Turkey views the group as a threat due to its links to armed groups that have fought for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey.
The idea of a safe zone was posited as a possible solution that would prevent a Turkish invasion once the U.S. military carries out Trump’s order to withdraw its forces from Northern Syria. However, the Syrian Kurds have rejected Turkey’s demands to administer a safe zone, and United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres said last month the UN had no plans to send a peacekeeping force.
“The proposal aims to fill the void and to meet the interests of several local, Arab and international parties,” Asharq Al-Awsat quoted the diplomatic sources as saying about Jarba’s proposal, which would meet Turkish demands for both U.S. and YPG forces to leave the area.
“The proposal also stipulates providing US air support from the Ain Al-Assad air base in Iraq's Anbar province and from the Tanf base in southeast Syria,” Asharq Al-Awsat said.
However, YPG leaders have expressed doubts that such a proposal can be implemented, and are continuing to seek an agreement with Moscow and Damascus, the newspaper said.
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