Turkey and the United States resolved to establish a “safe zone” in northern Syria, the two countries said on Wednesday, August 7, after days of talks aimed at averting a Turkish military assault.

A joint statement published by the Turkish defense ministry and the US embassy in Ankara said that they had agreed on “the rapid implementation of initial measures to address Turkey’s security concerns” in the region.

The two nations pledged to set up a joint operations center in Turkey “to co-ordinate and manage the establishment of the safe zone together”.

David Butter, an analyst of politics, economics and business in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, stated in an interview with Kurdpress that the aim of the deal is to avoid an escalation for the time being, though there are few and even contradictory remarks from the two sides about the zone and the deal.

There is not actually a complete agreement on the so-called safe zone and it is some sort of accommodation between Ankara and Washington.

Answering a question about how deep the safe zone is as nothing has been released to the media about the deal, Mr. Butter stated the US and the Kurds in the north of Syria tried to prevent any provocation and the deal fulfills the goal for the time being.

An associate fellow, Middle East and North Africa program in the Chatham House, Mr. Butter further did not predict radical changes in the region in a near future and the presence of the U.S. forces provides a constraint against the Turkish side to take radical measures and forcing the army into Syria, stressing that the risks are very high for Turkey in taking any measures and Ankara would not make any unexpected moves.

The Kurds in Syria have come to the understanding that they cannot rely on any country as their ally and main partner in the Syrian developments though there are US forces in the region and the White House has stated for times that the threat of the Islamic State (IS) is not still over, the expert said about the question that who is the real Syrian Kurds ally and partner.

Mr. Butter further stressed the upcoming US presidential election will be held a year later and that is a key factor in deciding where the developments will go and we should take that reality in mind.

Reporter’s code: 50101