TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is considering setting up a buffer zone inside Syria to tackle the flow of refugees fleeing the conflict there

Record ID: 217557

  • Title: TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is considering setting up a buffer zone inside Syria to tackle the flow of refugees fleeing the conflict there
  • Date: 17th March 2012
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (MARCH 16, 2012) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN LEAVING MOSQUE AFTER FRIDAY PRAYERS (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "We are now evaluating the situation, all those options are within the frame of these evaluations. At this point we are evaluating all options including recalling our ambassador and the si
  • Embargoed: 1st April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA313D975MVIFV42AEDL7CVVQYA
  • Story Text: Turkey is wary of military intervention that could bring it into confrontation with Syrian forces, but it has signalled that a large flood of refugees crossing its borders, or massacres by Syrian government troops, could force it to act and on Friday (March 16) the prime minister announced his government may set up a buffer zone inside Syria in response to the high flood of refugees flowing in.
    Turkey says any such operation would need some form of international agreement and involvement.
    Prime Minister Tayyip Erodogan says he may recall his ambassador from Damascus once Turkish citizens return from Syria, which the Turkish Foreign Ministry urged them to do at once.
    "We are now evaluating the situation, all those options are within the frame of these evaluations. At this point we are evaluating all options including recalling our ambassador and the situation of the Turkish citizens residing in Syria," Erdogan said.
    Turkey says that there are now 14,700 Syrian refugees living in camps on its territory. On Thursday it announced there had been a sharp increase in the flow, with some 1,000 arriving in the previous 24 hours, driven by fighting in nearby Idlib. But the number who fled to Turkey in the 24 hours up to Friday morning, had gone down to around 250, an official said.
    "About the subject, all of the options are being studied including a buffer zone and a security zone. All of these options are included in this study because it would be wrong to liaise on this subject from one point. We are discussing it by evaluating various alternatives," he added.
    A buffer zone inside Syria would need to be secured. Without at least tacit Syrian government acceptance, that could bring Turkish forces, the second biggest in NATO, into contact with Syrian forces. Fighting has moved closer to the Turkish frontier, with a government assault in the Idlib region.
    Turkish officials have not spelled out in any detail how they might envisage a 'security zone' and under what conditions it could be established.
    Erdogan responded to a question on a NATO helicopter crash in Afghanistan in which 12 Turkish soldiers were killed after slamming into a house on the outskirts of the capital. Four Afghan civilians were killed in the incident.
    "The helicopter crashed due to a reason not clear to us yet. Because of the crash Twelve military personnel including officers, specialized sergeants and privates have unfortunately lost their lives," he said.
    The crash came amid growing unease among NATO partner countries about the increasingly unpopular and costly war nearly 11 years into the conflict as most foreign combat troops set to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
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