The U.S. proposal to set up a security zone in northeastern Syria to allay Turkey's concerns about Kurdish militia would only serve Ankara's interests if the zone would come under Turkish control, most analysts said, while some described the move as a trap.

"The security zone must be under Turkey's control," Murat Bilhan, a former diplomat, told Xinhua, arguing such a step would otherwise threaten Turkey's national security.

The Washington proposal, which Ankara welcomed, came after Turkey threatened last month to launch a cross-border operation to eliminate the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia along its border.

Ankara sees the militia, the People's Protection Units (YPG), as a terror group and the extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party outlawed for its decades-old armed struggle against the Turkish state.

The safe zone, first suggested by U.S. President Donald Trump over Twitter last Sunday, will cover 32 km from the Turkish border into Syrian territory under YPG control.

"Turkey should not fall into the trap of a security zone," Cahit Armagan Dilek, director of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, told Xinhua, saying that the zone would serve in the longer term the U.S. plan to ensure a YPG-controlled area.

Referring to Washington's repeated declarations of support for its Kurdish ally, he said that "it looks highly improbable that the security zone would be under Turkish control."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed the possibility of any YPG presence in the proposed security zone, while Ibrahim Kalin, the presidential spokesman, said the safe zone would be under Turkish control.

However, details about the zone do not appear to have been fully settled yet.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that whether the Turkish and American understanding of the security zone are in agreement or in conflict would become clear following talks between the two sides.

Cavusoglu will travel to Washington D.C. on Feb. 6 for talks on cooperation in Syria.

For its part, Washington hopes the security zone will convince Ankara that the Kurdish militia would pose no security threat.

Turkey is concerned that an autonomous Kurdish entity in Syria would set an example for its own nearly 20 million Kurds, as the U.S. is known to have long sought the formation of a united Kurdistan in the Middle East which would bring together Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

The emergence of a U.S.-backed Kurdish entity in Syria poses a serious threat to Turkey, since it may in the long run lead to Turkey's disintegration following Iraq and Syria, argued Dilek.

Washington came up with the proposal for a security zone after having unexpectedly announced, shortly after Ankara's threat of a military operation, that the U.S. troops would leave Syria.

The Kurdish militia, which Washington has used as a ground force against the Islamic State (IS), has established two self-proclaimed autonomous cantons along the Turkish border in northeastern Syria during the war.

"If the safe zone would be under Turkey's full control and the YPG would be pushed further south, then the zone would serve Turkey's interest," said Erdogan Karakus, a former general in the Turkish military.

Locals who had earlier fled the area due to the YPG pressure to seek refuge in Turkey may also be resettled there, he said.

Turkey is under social and economic pressure as it is officially hosting over 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

Top U.S. officials have repeatedly underlined that Washington would continue to protect the YPG despite the decision to withdraw troops.

Trump even openly threatened to "devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds."

"In case Turkey is simply allowed to set up military posts and to carry out patrols in the security zone without fully controlling it, that would be useless," cautioned Karakus.

Lindsey Graham, a prominent U.S. senator known to have sway over Trump, had talks with Erdogan and other top Turkish officials about Syria in Ankara on Friday.

In an interview with CNNTurk the day after, the republican senator avoided directly answering a question about whether the establishment of a security zone would lead to the emergence of a YPG autonomous zone.

Instead, he said he was seeking a solution that would make Ankara feel it would face no terrorism threat from Syria.

Graham suggested that an inclusive administration model rather than one dominated by the YPG in Kurdish-held territory could help settle the problem following the U.S. withdrawal.

Dilek feels that the United States plans to deploy groups close to Turkey in the security zone so as to persuade Ankara to leave the YPG alone.

In addition, Ankara would probably be granted construction projects in the area, he said.

Erdogan had spoken in favor of the security zone deal with Trump, saying he believed they reached "a historically important understanding" on the issue. The Turkish leader also stated that Turkey's state-owned Housing Development Administration could have a role in the security zone projects.

Syria opposes any Turkish incursion into the Syrian territory, describing such a move as an act of aggression.

In two previous cross-border operations against the IS and the YPG, the Turkish military and its Syrian rebel allies captured a modest portion of Syrian territory in the northwestern part of the country.

Angered by Washington's supply of weapons to the YPG, Ankara has been cooperating with Russia and Iran for a political settlement of the Syrian conflict.

The analysts do not think, however, the security zone deal between Ankara and Washington would harm Ankara's cooperation with Moscow in Syria.

"I don't think Russia would turn against Turkey given the current good level of bilateral ties, ongoing important joint projects," said Bilhan, who is also a vice chairman of the Istanbul-based Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies.

"Russia is naturally not happy about the security zone, but would not raise its voice as long as Turkey cooperates with the U.S.," Karakus said.