ANKARA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking ways to solve differences with the United States on the planned safe zone to be established in northern Syria through a recently announced meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in the coming days, Turkish experts said.
Erdogan will try to secure "a new balance in the pendulum of Idlib and the east Euphrates," said Burhanettin Duran, columnist of Daily Sabah.
"I call it a pendulum because Turkey is trying to maintain a tough balance between two great powers (Russia and the United States) in northern Syria," he said.
Duran added that Turkey's goal is to prevent the situation from getting out of control and to avoid any military tensions with Russia and the United States.
Ahead of the possible meeting with Trump at the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 17-30, and a scheduled trilateral meeting with Russia and Iran on Sept. 16, Ankara wants to exert pressure to gain leverage in safe zone process, the expert said.
Last week, Erdogan threatened to launch Turkey's own operation in the planned safe zone area if the Turkish troops do not take control of the area in few weeks.
On Thursday, the Turkish president continued to put pressure on Washington.
He reiterated his warning against the U.S. delay in implementing the safe zone plan, vowing to launch own operation in northern Syria in the east of the Euphrates River by the end of September if the talks with the United States do not provide an outcome.
"Turkey is determined to actively initiate the formation of a safe zone in Syria along the eastern line of the Euphrates River in its own way by the last week of September," Erdogan said, adding that Ankara would prefer to realize it with its NATO ally.
He noted that the talks with the U.S. "show that there are serious differences" on the understandings of safe zone between Ankara and Washington.
"As Turkey faces a threat of millions of new asylum seekers from Idlib, it has no more chance of being a bystander in the east of Euphrates," he added.
On Aug. 7, Turkish and U.S. officials agreed to set up a safe zone and develop a "peace corridor" in northern Syria which would address Ankara's security concerns about a Kurdish faction that controls the territory.
The deal envisages withdrawal of the People's Protection Units (YPG) towards the south of the safe zone. The safe zone would also facilitate the return of displaced Syrians currently living in Turkey to their home country.
Ankara aims to preserve the cease-fire in Idlib, stop humanitarian crisis there, and prevent any massive influx of refugees towards its borders, Duran said, noting that Turkey also wants to avoid an entire destruction of Syrian opposition groups there.
In the eastern Euphrates front, Turkey wants to stop Syrian Kurds' advance in their autonomous administration and eliminate the YPG group, the expert added.
Turkey attaches importance to its relations with Russia, but it also wants to avoid a full entry into Russia's axis and a complete breakaway from its Western allies, said Can Acun, a foreign policy researcher at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research.
Rather, Turkey is trying to use the United States against Russia, and also use Russia against the United States, in order to maintain a balance of relations with the two powers, he added.
