Turkish occupation of Northern Syria

Syrian Security Belt
Current situation in northern Syria   Ba'athist Syria   SDF   ISIL   Opposition and Turkish-backed forces
Capital	Jarabulus
Largest city	al-Bab
Languages	Turkish Arabic Kurdish
Government	Military occupation
Areas under Safe Zone administration
• Intervention	24 August 2016
• Formation of TFSA (SNA)	30 May 2017
Currency	Syrian pound Turkish lira

The Turkish occupationof northern Syria, also known as the North Aleppo Border Pocket, the Northern Syria Security Belt, or the Safe Zone (Turkish: Güvenli Bölge), refers to areas of Syria captured and occupied since August 2016 by the Turkish Armed Forces and Turkish-backed Turkmen and Arab forces during the Syrian Civil War. Turkish-occupied Syria consists of a 1,620 square kilometer area which encompasses around 217 settlements, including: al-Bab, Azaz, Dabiq and Jarabulus. This territory had previously been controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Syrian opposition, the Syrian Democratic Forces, and the Syrian government.

Turkey and Syrian opposition proposed a safe zone that includes some regions of northern Syria in 2013, however United States and the other Western states were not willing to accept these plans. After the advancements of ISIL in Iraq, Turkey and United States negotiated 'safe zone', while USA accepted 'ISIL-free zone', US officials were reluctant to accept a no fly zone.

After the attacks of ISIL in Syrian Kurdistan, tens of thousands non-Sunnis, Christians and Yazidis fled to Turkey. In the beginning of 2015, refugees began to cross Turkish-Greek border, escaping to European countries in massive numbers. The huge refugee flow resulted in reconsidering the creation of a safe zone for civilians in Syria. In February 2016, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel said, "In the current situation it would be helpful if there could be such an area where none of the parties are allowed to launch aerial attacks – that is to say, a kind of no-fly zone".