Turkey cites disagreements with U.S. even as joint Syria patrols begin

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, Ankara and Washington have constantly disagreed over establishing the planned "safe zone."  Speaking hours after joint U.S.-Turkey patrols began in northern Syria, Erdogan underscored frayed trust between the NATO allies and said Turkey does not share many of Washington's aims.  After intensive negotiations, Turkey and the United States have set up a joint operation center and conducted joint helicopter patrols. 

But they have so far disagreed over how deep the zone would extend into Syria and over the command structure of the forces to operate there. Erdogan is anxious to push back from Turkey's borders the Kurdish YPG forces which, with U.S. backing over the last four years, have taken control of much of northeastern Syria from Islamic State militants. Ankara has labeled the YPG terrorists and says they have links to Kurdish militants in Turkey. Turkey also aims to send 1 million of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it hosts to a broader safe zone in northern Syria.