Turkish drones start operating in northern Syria

CAIRO – 15 August 2019: The Turkish Ministry of Deference announced late on Wednesday that drones have started operating in northern Syria where Washington and Ankara have agreed to create a safe zone.

Ankara and Washington reached an agreement last week to set up a joint operations center regarding the safe zone to be established in northern Syria.

However, there have been no clear details so far regarding the size of the zone and the command structure of joint patrols that would be conducted there.

A six-person US delegation arrived in the southern Turkish province of Sanliurfa on Monday to work on the establishment of the operations center.

Turkey has been accused of facilitating the smuggling of arms and fighters to Syria, despite international resolutions that stipulate otherwise.

Washington and Ankara have been at odds over plans for northeastern Syria, where US allies on the ground in the battle against ISIS militants.