An article in the New York Times was
published recently discussing that the US and Turkey had agreed to
create a ‘safe zone’ in Syria. Specifically the article stated that the
plan was to have “an Islamic State-free zone controlled by relatively
moderate Syrian insurgents, which the Turks say could also be a ‘safe
zone’ for displaced Syrians.”
Now, ignoring the fact that this is obviously a massive infringement
upon the sovereignty of the Syrian state, there are some problems with
this, as well as larger implications.
For starters, Turkey has actively been aiding ISIS. In November 2014, Newsweek ran an interview with
a former ISIS member in which he stated that he “travelled in a convoy
of trucks as part of an ISIS unit from their stronghold in Raqqa, across
Turkish border, through Turkey and then back across the border to
attack Syrian Kurds in the city of Serekaniye in northern Syria in
February” and that commanders told him and