BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian government said on Thursday that an agreement between Turkey and the United States over northeastern Syria represented a “blatant attack” on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial unity and a “dangerous escalation”.

The agreement setting up a joint operation center to manage a strip of territory at the Turkish border showed “American-Turkish partnership in the aggression against Syria”, state news agency SANA cited a foreign ministry source as saying.

The U.S.-Turkish “aggression” represented “a dangerous escalation and a threat to peace and stability in the area”.