the terrorists and an international warrant — arrest warrant — is also there for these, one of the pkk—ypgof course is the turkish—kurdish militant group which is also considered to be a terror group by the united states and the europeans. and they are allied to the ypd, the pyg who are syrian codes. just to clarify that. right, and yesterday president trump emphasised that, pkk is worst than daesh isis. for us both of them are the same. both of them are terrorist organisations. so what we have been saying to our american allies is very clear. do not engage with this terrorist organisations. do not provide weapons. and we have tried with them to create the safe zone together but it didn't work. it was just delaying tactics and even during these efforts, they continued providing weapons to these terrorist organisations. and they promised to withdraw this ypg/pyd element from this region — they haven't. so what we have been saying is that they should withdraw these ypg/pkk elements from the area that you have mentioned, the safe zone that we are aiming to create. well we know of course that

daesh, ypg, pkk, they are all terrorist.o—called islamic state, they have 12,000 fighters. they have nothing to do with islam, islam is a religion of peace. i know, so—called, i said. religion of peace. i know, so-called, i said. i am underlying this. there are 12,000 isis fighters held in kurdish —controlled areas inside northern syria and president erdogan said on the 14th of october, "we hope will ensure no isis fighters leave northern syria. " but that's not the case, is it? they have been let loose. you have to actually tell the truth. i'm afraid i have to remind you of this. when we reach these prisons, more than 1000 daesh terrorists were there and there was no daesh elements, why? because ypg, pkk terrorists actually release them, therefore i'm not responsible for those daesh terrorists that ypg actually released. but they are fighting you, they say, and now... this isjust a narrative. this is just they say, and now... this isjust a narrative. this isjust a narrative. are you saying there are isis fighters on the loo

and second, please comment on abandoning the kurdish ypg pushes them into reconsolidation with the pkk losing the opportunity for alignment with the u.s. to influence the political change? >> so i guess is the ypg under pressure, that these groups need to merge i guess? are the comic under further -- what's the future within and erdogan, is or any hope of things settling down? >> i think the ypg likes things just fine as is. they get the plausible deniability while being a faction of the pkk, it is not directly listed as part of the pkk. that would put them under sanctions with the pkk, listed as a foreign terrorist organization and that would prohibit any support from the united states. i wouldn't see them being in a merger with pkk. and i'll leave the first question to mike. >> just in terms of the pressure that the cards in northeastern syria are coming under erdogan,, is it in help of any kind of settlement between the? >> great question i would just note, i think the real scenario now we're watching is with the ypg go to the site not a merger with the pkk but assad and by extensio

there are turkish kurds who fight alongside the ypg, we know there are close links between the pkk and have been giving to the syrian kurds has been to defend themselves against the attacks of daesh. you have given support? we have been giving support to any campaign against daesh. we have not used... we have never used in north—east syria in order to wager attacks against the turkish state. turkey has, let's say, invaded their area and... even after the ceasefire? even after this agreement, the war, in your eyes, goes on and you think syrian kurds should still attack? they should be able... they should defend their land against aggression and attacks of the turkish state until the turkish state is ousted out of syria. this is... you're talking about a continuation of the fighting, you're talking about the loss of more kurdish lives potentially? erdogan has not hidden his aim in order to continue this war. should we call on all people to become refugees and go, or should we call on our people to stay in their villages and defend themselves against, let's say, the aggressors, against, l

but the ypg is the pkk and we know that quite welland we aligned with them -- >> they have been our allies and they have helped us, they have done all of the fighting on the ground, we supplied weapons in a few u.s. soldiers and a few other countries are represented. but they have been doing the fighting against isis, they've imprisoned thousands of isis fighters and whether or not we were right to get alongside them in the first place, they have been doing the workforce how they customer. >> they did not do it for th us, they did it for themselves. they're using and borrowing our power to build in a thomas kurdish state let on turkey's borders dominated exclusively by them. that is their political goal, and in our narrowminded counterterrorism view decided to turn a blind eye to all the political implications of their project which we have inadvertently been supporting. that was inevitably going to alienate turkey, not just president, but all of turkey. >> want this move again, whether we were right or wrong and getting started, the

the united states back in 2018 said of your ypg, he said, "the ypg is a syrian militia wing of the kurdistan workers party, that is the pkktion, so does the uk and the europeans. this is the reality. it's a reality that you always deny, but it's the reason why the turkish military is on your territory today. these aren't reasonable reasons. these are not facts. so if i'm supporting... imagine a kurd living in iran as he is a kurd. and he likes 0calan. does that mean he is 0calani? no, but if one looks at the evidence, there is clear evidence of a command structure, the organisation of the ypg is intimately connected to the pkk. this is not true. the us made it clear that it's not true. yes, and uk make it clear it is not true. is it also... 0k you've said it's not true. let's just move on to other aspects — troubling aspects of the ypg. is it true that ypg uses child soldiers? no, they have been declared, the syrian democratic forces... so why do you think the united nations, human rights watch and other independent human rights groups have all said that there's clear evidence that the ypg uses, recruits and sometimes kid

for catastrophic failure in northeastern syria because we entered into an alliance with the pkk and that the ypg, the kurdish force we worked with on the ground is the pkk. this is a terrorist organization on the state department's terrorism list that seeks to partition turkey between kurds and turks by aligning with the pkk or aligning with the pkk we set ourselves on a collision course with turkey. and that was unwise from a humanitarian point of view and the strategic point of view. the strategic prize in this ituation is the orientation, the international orientation of turkey. the turks have been telling us for years now that they don't like the fact that we are providing a power umbrella under which the pkk can build an autonomous kurdish statement in northeastern syria and we have effectively time and time again told them to sit down and shut up. that we rebranded the pkk as the sds, we brought in arabs and yazidis and others as mary beth was saying, but the power center f that organization was always the pkk and we should recognize that we lied to ourselves. the obama administration pack

and there are also concerns about a link between the ypg and the pkk. ture of northern syria, do you see any future for the syrian...? our commitment with turkey is that we will work with ypg members. we also know syrian... the withdrawal has literally already begun. from where they will be withdrawing is the demarcation line, roughly 20 miles south of the border. turkey's willingness to pause and embrace a ceasefire of military operations to enable us to see that orderly withdrawal of ypg, we believe will make that possible to occur. i know that it make that possible to occur. i know thatitis make that possible to occur. i know that it is already under way as we speak. but, look, turkey had a great concern about their border. and while the united states of america didn't approve of their military crossing into syria, we have always endorsed a safe zone. and it was a matter of discussion and negotiations. and we believe that the kurdish population in syria with which we have a strong relationship will continue to endure. the united states will always be

our report calls for specific actions for the ypg to differentiate itself from the pkk, we did not find examples with the u.s. provided arms to the ypg in syria made it across the border to turkey. >> i will add that you will find plenty of examples, especially from earlier parts of the war, support for isis coming out from across the border, which is one thing we have not been able to successfully address with the turks. so, the turks did a terrible job of presenting -- preventing isis from going into syria, and the syrian kurds have done an excellent job of making sure that malevolent actors do not go from there territory into turkey, and yet turkey begins this terrible conflict. i yield back. >> thank you very much. i think the witnesses and all members for being here today. thank you both for your testimony. thank you for your very thoughtful leadership of this important, serious study group and thanks for the report that you produced. members of the subcommittee may have some additional questions for you. we ask them to please submit those within the next five days. we ask that you

and our report calls for specific actions for the ypg to differentiate itself from the pkk, we did not find examples where u.s. provided arms to the ypg and syria made itself across the bored near turkey. >> i'll add, congressman. you'll find plenty of examples from early parts of the war support from isis coming from the other direction. that is one thing that we have not been able to successfully address with the turks. >> so the turks did a terrible job of preventing isis from going into syria. and the syrian kurds have done a excellent job of making sure that actors do not go from the territory they controlled up into turkey and yet turkey begins this terrible conflict. i yield back. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i thank the witnesses and all members for being here today. i thank you both for your testimony. thank you for your very thoughtful leadership of this importanta study group. members my va atigsal questions for you. we ask them to please submit those within the next five days. we ask that you respond in writing. i just want to thank you again for over the p

that is known as the ypg and is affiliate-- a syrian of a wider kurdish movement inside turkey, the pkk. president erdogan has warned the u.s. that the partnership with the ypg was unacceptable to him, however he has been negotiating for a de-escalation in the northeast. that changed during the call between president erdogan where president erdogan announced he would begin an operation in the east. host: i want to show what the president just had to say about this yesterday. he brought up the issue of turkey. >> very strong talks with a lot of people. we want to bring our soldiers back home after so many years, and the greatest war in the world they are policing. they are not a police force. we want to bring our soldiers back home and we are being very tough on turkey and a lot of others. they have to maintain their own properties, maintain peace and safety, and we will see what happens, the delegation. we are asking for a cease-fire. sanctions strongest and we have a lot in store in case they do not work, including massive tariffs on steel, shipping steel to the united states. they mak

ypg is an existential threat to us. we have lost people in the hands of pkk terrorists, 40,000.e have given our full support to the united states,wi against 9/11out question. when the u.s. conducted operations and afghanistan, we knew it was against al qaeda. senator graham and [indiscernible] a terrorist orgaeszation reted as -- recognized as such. they are referring to it as an ally. judy: they did work alongside the u.s. in the fight against isis. >> that was a mistake in the first place. you cannot conduct a successful fight against a terrorist organization by making use of another terrorist organization. judy: you mentioned senator van hollen, senator graham. the entire foreign services committee in the u.s. senate are saying they are goingd ull speed ahth sanctions against turkey, despite this. >> this is the prejudice we have to overcome. they are rerring to ypg a allies of the u.s. they are not allies. our first and ultimate goal in syria is trying toth preserv territorial integrity of syria. judy: several questions. there was the phone call between pres trump and presid

one of the main groups, ypg, turkey claims that it is connected to pkk and it poses a threat to turkishr and that is it main claim for this operation. given the pkk have made a tax within turkey. what is the mood in turkey about what is happening right now in this region? most of the turkish people support government and support the fight against pkk because it is a terrorist organisation but about this operation we can say that public opinion is divided. some people argue that we do not have an imminent threat from syrian kurds living in the southern, next to the southern border of turkey and they say this operation will cause more serious to flee to turkey and increase the number of syrian refugees and they say would not want any war, any more clashes with the curse. but it is hard to hear the voices. the media in turkey is mostly control and under the influence of turkish government, let's say, and just recently, arrest wa rra nts let's say, and just recently, arrest warrants were issued for almost 80 people because of their tweet and things they wrote on social media, saying these p

this has been their consistent theme about the terrorist threat that they see from the pkk, the ypg,tc., how this is affecting their national security, etc., etc. >> we have not abandoned the kurds. let me be clear about that. nobody green lighted this offensive by turkey. just the opposite. eric: with the army for 33 years including service in iraq and afghanistan. general, first, thank you for your service. >> it's a great country to serve, eric. thank you very much. eric: that, sir, it is. however, we have this situation. just heard the defense secretary say no one green lighted this operation. but that's not the impression that they're reporting, they blame president trump for moving those 50 or so special ops away from the border and giving erdogan a green light to conduct what some fear could be a genocide and a mass slaughter of the brave and courages kurds who are fighting against terrorism. how can this be turned around? >> well, we had three objectives. the objectives were to be a buffer between the kurds and the turks. we also wanted the kurds' assistance in deterring and

the ypg is an offshoot of the pkk which has been designated a terrorist organization by turkey and also the us and the eu the pkk has been battling the turkish state for decades. is in turkey's southeast. a region whose population has been caught in turkey's war on terror before. >>are being told is that there used to be single-story homes here but they were destroyed and the most recent clashes, very serious fighting that broke out between turkey and the pkk was back in 2015 and many of the homes here were subsequently destroyed what people are telling us is about a month ago, the turkish government gave them tease to these apartments they had only just returned. and now a found themselves in the middle of a war zone once again. >>this is right after the strike. so it's all foreigners >>a mother and her 2 daughters died they were barely teams. the kurdish population along both sides of this border, no war. the no fear and uncertainty and that war often blurs the lines between those who are armed and daughters we're in this. >>and is stepping down from his position with the chinese comp

the ypg, they are a branch of the pkk in turkey. tens of thousands of people in a decade long insurgency against our ally in turkey. the pkk, the parents of the people we were working with in syria are a maoist, lenin-marxists. we had common causes with them, trish. we had interests in common. they were neighbors of isis and were at war with isis as all isis neighbors were. these guys were partners in that struggle. but the president was clear from the beginning. that was our strategic interest in this part of syria, was to destroy the territorial caliphate of isis. it wasn't to create a lifelong alliance with these people who themselves are a branch of an organization designated by the u.s. and every other u.s. country a terrorist organization for killing tens of millions of people next door on our real ally, turkey. those who talk about ally, those who know better are being very hypocritical. and other people don't know better. it's complicated stuff. trish: i don't know what happened. suddenly they have become fiscal conservative

>> he is paranoid by the turkish pkk and knows the syrian kurds, the ypg does have a relationship with organization and they do support it politically but they have not been involved militarily because they've been after isis all this time. >> bill: here is the letter. you saw it, right? part of it now. president trump writes you don't want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people and i don't want to be responsible for destroying the turkish economy, and i will. history will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way. it will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don't happen. don't be a tough guy. don't be a fool. what do you think of that? >> i think it's a good letter. it reflects the way president trump talks and so he knows that was written by the president and he has a no nonsense approach to it. hopefully something comes of the negotiations here with vice president pence and secretary pompeo. they are doing a press conference without turkey. i doubt if there will be a cease-fire. if there was going to be a cease-fire. >> meani

which wasy: the ypg, the kurdish militia we joined up with with ties to the pkk, as it spread out intorab areas with our encouragement in the fight against isis down along the euphrates into manbich, renamed itself in 2007 sdf syrian democratic forces to reflect the fact that it is now an arab as well as kurdish force. yeah, i mean, their motivation was to take out isis in the process they wound up with a lot of territory which is not uncommon. sen. johnson: precisely, but is that going to be a festering problem -- hopefully at one point, we are saving lives in syria and now you have 5.5 million refugees trying to return from syria. will some be basically squatting in their homes? mr. jeffrey: that was on our top 10 list of festering problems, the idea that we had a largely kurdish-led fighters over a significant part of the arab population, but not one of the top five problems. sen. johnson: are we going to maintain a no-fly zone in effect . are we still willing to do that? mr. jeffrey: we are doing that at the moment. where our forces are, over the northeast, how the thinking is in t

and the current president's father had actually decided to eject the pkk's leader and shut down the camps, and the ypg is basically one in the same and labels it as a terrorist organization, but it is worth noting they are considered to be a terror organization by the u.s. and the eu. turkey has been confounded that the u.s. would even turn to the ypg as a key ally on the ground. turkey has been saying if they're not able to cooperate on this, if america does not do what turkey wants, then turkey will go it alone. they have hundreds of miles of stretch of border and they want to create this zone. most of them kurdish who live in these areas and these areas could potential i will be places where they will resetting some of the refugees they have in turkey. most of two or syrian arabs. it is thoord see howhard to see demographic change is not taking place. this sf a conflict not likely to remain neatly contained. there are potential consequences to it that we're aware of like the reemergence of isis and plenty of consequences that we're not yet aware of at this stage. >> all right, barbara star, arwaday

geopolitical situation is that turkey and the pkk which is the people's workers party of the kurds who are marxist group, they were at odds, slaughter heads, we know the ypgch is the group the helpdesk, they were the syrian branch of the pkk. so you actually have a strange mix going on with the kurds in themselves. kennedy: we should not have asked for their assistance in the first place. >> exactly. kennedy: is so disingenuous and i understand because i know in your heart you want to limit the wars. i know in your heart you do not want civilian casualties over there and you don't want to create gold star families over here. but we have to have some sort of philosophy because right now you have a macy's thanksgiving day balloon flying through the air and headed and is not a good look. please return again very soon. thank you so much i pressure your patience. >> how much do you really know about the army of democrats running for president and they are ready to get kinky. playing donkey derby. let's find out the facts of the white house wannabes and you complaint along. complaint along. the home v v v v 2,000 fence posts. 900 acres. 48 bales. all before lun

did he not distinguish and i think that was a good decision between the ypg which is a kurdish offshoot of the pkk. >> no i understand. that joint statement also said that turkey and the united states are committed to deisis and daesh activities in northeast syria including detention on facilities. what did the turks commit to in terms of securing isis detention facilities and camps in northeast syria. >> we began talks with them in january 2018 after the president announced the withdrawal in december and the turks showed some interest and some staff work concerns detention facilities in that up to 30 kilometer deep zone. there are very few detention facilities in the area where the turks are so at the moment the question is pretty moot. >> but they did, in fact, shell two prisons that the syrian democratic forces had to flee from to escape the shelling, is that correct, and detainees were able to escape from those two facilities. >> i will check. i think there was a displaced persons camp for people who are basically associated with isis so they weren't second nick clee detainees, we will check,

pkk, which calls for kurdish aton autonomy, began an arms struggle that continues to this day. in the past 35 years, more than 40,000 people have been kill nd that struggle. now turkey considers ypg forces in syria to be an extension of the pkk in turkey, which it has declared to be a terrorist organization. in the meantime, syrian kurdish forces are holding more than 10,000 isis fighters, including 2,000 foreigners, in several prisons. angel is worry a new -- in syria could lead to a security vacuum that allows those prisoners to escape. they also control a camp home to more than 70,000 people. mostly the wives and children of isis fighters. joining me now to have a closer look at this, a foreign correspondent for the "new york times" who covers islamices extremism including isis and at the national security counsel. also served as spokesperson for the u.s. mission to the united nations. also a former treasury department spokesperson for terrorism and financial intelligence. brook, let's start with you and the isis part of this conversati conversation. president trump in his tweets dbt didn't express concern frd kurds as bill put it. are going to go after. he's concerned about w

erdogan has described the kurdish military, he says that they're terrorists for the ypg who are kind of connected to the pkk. this is complicated. the turks say there's no distinction between them, even though they've been fighting isis for the last several years. we can expect a bruising battle. on the one side we have the syrian democratic forces which is populated mostly by occurredikurdish militants. and on the other side is u.s. ally turkey which is a high-tech military, complete with tie-tech weaponry and artillery and a sophisticated air force and that's what you're seeing being deployed in northern syria. we can expect a bruising battle and quite a few civilian casualties. >> that is exactly what the kurds had been fearing. it is not a surprise that is turks are now moving into this area. president erdogan had signaled this to the u.s. we're just getting in, by the way, that president erdogan spoke with russia president vladimir putin to discussion these operations in sir yacsyri. talk about what you're hearing from your sources at the pentagon as we move forward. >> you've brought up two things. on

ypg would do to him inside syria. it's not that they don't support the pkk, they do. i think this could end it very quickly.here are still opportunities to stop it. lou: it's been five years. we have a military that is counseling this president every day. we have a state department. this is a president who pledged to move our troops home. this is a moment of decision. he's made his choice. i personally think it's exactly no matter how difficult and wrenching it is, it's past time we pulled our troops out of there. if it's a diplomatic solution, then it's the stuff for dip maghts. it's extraordinary to me to their senator lindsey graham who one day sounds like he's on the president's side and the next sounds like he's leading the opposition. i can't make head nor tails of him. but he thought the solution in egypt, edfollowed the dicta of senator mccain and obama that the united states wanted the muslim brotherhood to be part of the new government el-sisi was forming. we are looking at a history of highly checkered foreign policy analysis from the united states senate. >> we didn't create radical islam, skis

the ypg is a terrorist organization, one and the same as the pkk.t alone and we warned you about this before. >> stay safe, arwa damon. following breaking news. hope you stay with us. more news after the break. ♪ the amount of student loan debt i have i'm embarrassed to even say i felt like i was going to spend my whole adult life paying this off thanks to sofi, i can see the light at the end of the tunnel as of 12pm today, i am debt free ♪ not owing anyone anything is the best feeling in the world, i cannot stop smiling about it ♪ their medicare options... before they're on medicare. come on in. you're turning 65 soon? yep. and you're retiring at 67? that's the plan! well, you've come to the right place. it's also a great time to learn about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. here's why... medicare part b doesn't pay for everything. only about 80% of your medical costs. this part is up to you... yeah, everyone's a little surprised to learn that one. a medicare supplement plan helps pay for som

potential terrorist threat, because after all, the ypg, the syrian militia in northern syria, is very closely allied with the domestic terrorist group, the pkkds to be managed with great care. we cannot, for example, have 60 or 70,000 prisoners from daesh suddenly all released and able to restart the terrorist activity which has been stopped, because many of them were taken prisoner. so it is a complex problem. but the good thing, i would say, is that turkey and the united states are in close dialogue about the way forward. and president trump has said in one of his tweets, i promise to take america out of these endless wars, and so he really wants to wash his hands of the whole thing and he has castigated the europeans, hasn't he, and other western powers for not taking some of the so—called islamic state prisoners. professor, what is your response to this question? well, thinking about what trump said, two wrong things about trump. it seems that, yes, there is an agreement going between the us and turkey about this turkish intervention in northern syria. what he said, the turks are at war with the codes for a number of centuries, which is

d the white pg in the pkk are the same organisation and you will see organisation and you —— ypg illustratedd take back the weapons, and there created this absolute mess and there created this absolute mess and northeast syria that we are trying to put right right now. you talk about allies and one of your allies, the us, does not agree with what you're saying. president trump has mentioned three choices, either sendin has mentioned three choices, either send in the troops, hit turkey with sanctions or mediate a deal. and what if russia retaliates? the thing with america right now is there is a lot of confusion and misinformation but there is also a lot of political situations internally. all of the allies are concerned about the situation of isis prisoners and we have assured them that we have the capacity to take care and secure the area where these prisons are in the logs camp where the families are being held his —— outside of our jurisdiction. it isjust being held his —— outside of our jurisdiction. it is just a strip to ensure our national security, but it is wide enough to ensure the

pkk bebecause some workers policy. opoperating from syria now on the phonee state it was protections universal ypg sir f find g goinn and telling his nice that t he's going to give turkey protection he's standing up toto united states he's standiding up to russia. it appeals to the is your half of you turkey should be one the great powers of the of the world of course the rounded sees somewhat different okay is going in. i it is i in danger during its diplomatic relations with many mamany key axes. united states e european powers itt as well ththis lady d antagonized many using thehe hed we havave seen n now. meetings a u. ministers today deciding many of f those countries to suspendll strtraightened w with turkrkey in. this movie simply n the in the sentence in the united states. things are dropping here which i just put to use just for an instant reaction i'm not expecting full analysis but so you know the dossier so i'm pretty sure you can do with this no problem. at trump donald trump saying steel tariffs on turkey of increased back up 250% this i idsa presume is part of trump's threat to the economy which- he said

it's not the the pkk which is based in turkey, and it's not the ypg either.df which was central to defeating is — and had been armed and supported by america. they will not see these developments as a ‘peace operation‘. well, here's president erdogan speaking to his defence minister ahead of the turkish offensive on the kurdish—led syrian democratic forces known as the sdf. he's calling this operation peace spring. he says he wants to create a safe zone south of the turkey syria border, where some syrian refugees in turkey can move to. now, these are the latest pictures. this is the moment several hours ago that the operation began. turkish jets headed for northeastern syria. this video shows explosions hitting a small compound on the syrian side of the border. there are also reports of turkish artillery hitting kurdish military bases and ammunition stores. large convoys of buses carrying turkish troops have also been arriving along the border with syria. and this shows residents fleeing a syrian border town called ras—al—ain. in the last couple of hours the

pkk, for 30 years with turkish state. the turkish state says why p&g poses a threat on its border to turkey's national security —— ypg.. they don't wantan national security —— ypg. they don't want an autonomous state on its border and that is why the government sees it as a national security issue and says that it has to protect its nation's security. and the public are behind that, aren't they, in terms of sentiment, what the public think of this situation at the moment in turkey. to be honest, there is a divide in public opinion and it goes in parallel with the fault lines in turkey. people who support government support this operation as well. yesterday morning, it was kind of funny, they were praising trump, saying that he has come to terms with turkey at a couple of hours later, after trump tweeted and threatening turkey, they started criticising my trump harshly. half of society, let's say, who support government, they support this operation as well. the other half says they don't want any wall and they say that this operation will cause more syrians to come to turkey to live. all right. we have got to leave it

fighting force on the other side of this border, the ypg, is a terrorist organization and that is because it is an offshoot of the separatist group the pkk that has been battling the kurdish state for decades. the pkk is not just designated a terrorist organization by turkey, it's also designated a terrorist organization by the u.s. and the eu. so from the beginning, turkey has been confounded as to why its nato ally, america, would essentially ally itself with its arch enemy inside syria. and turkey, from the beginning of that allegiance, has been warning the u.s., turkey has been wanting and asking the u.s. for this safe zone. they had actually begun, both countries had begun joint patrols along these areas as part of an agreement, but turkey ran out of patience, at least that's what the government says, and they decided to go this alone. no matter what happens, they're not going to back down. and the consequences have been devastating. the consequences for civilians inside syria have been devastating. and the consequences for the civilian population along this bord border, which further to the east incidentally is members of turkey's