Erdogan says Turkey has no choice but go its own way on Syria 'safe zone'

• Turkey has repeatedly warned of unilateral military action if the efforts do not meet its expectations, and it set an end-September deadline.
• Erdogan said Turkey planned to settle 2 million people in the planned "safe zone,"

ANKARA: Turkey has not seen the developments it desires in efforts with the United States to form a "safe zone" in northeastern Syria and has no choice but to go its own path, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

Ankara and NATO ally Washington have agreed to establish a zone along 480 km (300 miles) of the Turkish border that Turkey wants to reach 30 km inside Syria.

Turkey has repeatedly warned of unilateral military action if the efforts do not meet its expectations, and it set an end-September deadline.

Speaking at the parliament's opening ceremony in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey planned to settle 2 million people in the planned "safe zone," which he said would stretch east from the Euphrates river in Syria to the Iraqi border.