OREANDA-NEWS. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu believes that Washington wants to delay the process of creating a security zone in northern Syria. He voiced his point of view at a press conference in Ankara on Tuesday. The broadcast was conducted by the Turkish TV channel. "We see that the United States is trying to delay the process of creating a security zone. Taking cosmetic measures to work in the security zone, they at the same time continue to help the People’s Self-Defense Forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party. If cooperation with the US doesn't bear fruit, we will enter to this region", the minister said.

He recalled that Washington "didn't keep his word when it came to Manbij, and Turkey does not want a repetition of this". In 2016, the United States attracted Kurdish formations to release Manbij from the Islamic State extremist group (banned in the Russian Federation), promising that they would leave the city after the operation was completed. However, these formations, recognized in Turkey as terrorist, did not come out of there.

Chavushoglu noted that, although "joint patrolling by Turkey and the United States" of the northern border regions of Syria has begun, the Americans don't take other effective steps. "We are talking about an ally who is unable to act independently of a terrorist organization. Our president said that America wants to create a security zone for these terrorists. But Turkey has a plan. The question of our national security is to enter the region and clear it of terrorists". He added that "Ankara won't retreat on this issue".

The military of Turkey and the United States on August 7 agreed to establish a joint operations center in Syria. It was organized to implement a plan to form a buffer zone in the north of the Arab Republic, where Syrian refugees could return from Turkey and which would become a protective belt for the Turkish border.