"What we say is that a U.S. stalling tactic will not work. Unfortunately, they employed such stalling on Manbij [northern Syria], they did not keep their promise," Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference with Nabeela F. Tunis, his counterpart from Sierra Leone.

The Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of Kurdish YPG forces from the city to stabilize the region, which is located north of Aleppo near the Turkish border.

The Turkish FM underlined that the preliminary agreement between Ankara and Washington for a safe zone was only a beginning and that there remained "many topics" that need detailing, Hurriyet daily reported.

"For this reason, we agreed to set up a joint operations center," he said, adding that several U.S. soldiers arrived in Turkey for this purpose.

"A delegation led by the deputy commander of the U.S. European Command will come to Sanliurfa [province]," he added.

Noting that Turkish unmanned aircraft had begun flights over the region, Cavusoglu underlined that observation points would be erected and joint patrols conducted in the area.

He said: "The aim here is to establish a safe zone and [U.S. President Donald] Trump made a promise for [a depth of] '20 miles'," claiming that the region could only be safe after it was cleared of the YPG and PKK groups.

Reporter’s code: 50101