Opposition eager to set up safe zone in Syria's north

By Ismail Ozdemir

ISTANBUL

The Syrian opposition said Thursday it had begun to establish a much-discussed safe zone in the country's north with the support of Turkey.

In a news conference in Istanbul, National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces member Hatib Bedle stated that they had struggled for five years to establish a safe zone in the north of Syria -- a demand that Turkey has voiced again and again.

He added that the PYD's military activities were one of the dangerous threats against opposition forces.

"Their main purpose is to divide Syria. They want to establish a state there," he said. "The organization behind the PYD is the PKK. It is very clear that they are working with the Syrian regime and they are against the Syrian revolution."

The opposition group's secretary general, Abdulilah Fahd, said Turkey had made significant contributions to the people of Syria during the conflict.

Fahd stated that the Syrian opposition supported Operation Euphrates Shield, all the while coordinating ground advances of the Free Syrian Army with Turkey.

He also estimated that 200 Europeans occupied positions in what he called "Daesh management".

The PKK and its Syrian offshoot the PYD are both listed as terrorist groups by Turkey although the U.S. and EU only view the PKK as a terrorist organization.

Operation Euphrates Shield was launched in August to rid the north Syrian border area of terrorists. The campaign has seen both Daesh and the PKK/PYD targeted by the FSA and Turkish tanks, artillery and aircraft.