Turkey won’t tolerate US delay over Syria zone

ANKARA: Ankara will not tolerate any delay from the US over setting up a safe zone in northern Syria, Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday.

"They (the US) first need to be sincere and need to understand that Turkey won't tolerate delaying tactics," Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a press conference in Ankara.

His comments come as an American military delegation headed by Lieutenant General Stephen Twitty, deputy commander of the US European Command, was expected in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa. He will supervise the establishment of the joint operations centre as part of the effort to organise a "safe zone" in northern Syria, the Turkish defence ministry.

The Pentagon on Wednesday said the agreement would be "implemented in stages". The goal of the zone is to create a buffer between the Turkish border and areas controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).