Akar visits border for Syria safe zone

Turkish military chiefs arrived at the country's southeastern border on Friday (August 16) to inspect the troops ahead of a planned safe zone in Syria, AA reported.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar along with Chief of General Staff Yasar Guler, and commanders of the land, air, and naval forces arrived in the city of Sanliurfa to inspect troops preparing for the set up of a Turkish-US Joint Operations Center.

A six-member US team also arrived in the southeastern province on Aug. 12.

"The Joint Operations Center is projected to start functioning in the coming days," the National Defense Ministry said in a statement following the arrival of the US delegation.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that the preliminary Turkey-US agreement on a safe zone is just a beginning and many topics need detailing.

Turkish and US military officials on Aug. 7 agreed to set up a safe zone and develop a peace corridor to facilitate the movement of displaced Syrians, who are longing to return their home. They also agreed to establish a joint operations center.