“We will establish patrol bases in the east of [River] the Euphrates. This would be a big achievement if we could set up these bases and the terrorists would be withdrawn from there,” Akar told daily Turkiye in an interview on Sept 19.

“They will be the joint bases of Turkey and the U.S. We want them to be permanent. Their numbers will be decided depending on the need,” Akar said, informing that an agreement on the move with the U.S. was provided.

The minister recalled that Turkey had set up permanent patrol bases in northern Iraq in the fight against the PKK and the ones in northeastern Syria would be similar to those.

“Are we going to stop afterwards? No, we won’t. Our objective is to set up a 30 to 40-kilometer deep safe zone along the borderline,” he said.

The minister’s remarks came just a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the U.S. that it will have to act alone in northeastern Syria should talks for the safe zone would not be concluded in two weeks.

Turkey and the U.S. announced on August 7 that they agreed on setting up a safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border. Talks since then have not produced the modalities on the depth and on the scope of the safe zone although the two militaries have carried out one combined ground patrol mission and several reconnaissance flights.

Reporter’s code: 50101