Turkey Urges U.N. to Create Refugee Safe Zones in Syria
Turkey is in talks with the United Nations on ways to shelter thousands of refugees on Syrian soil and expects the world body to take concrete steps, its foreign minister said Wednesday.
"We expect the United Nations to step in for the protection of refugees inside Syria and if possible housing them in camps there," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.
He was speaking before leaving for New York where he was to attend U.N. Security Council meeting on refugees Thursday.
Syria's President Bashar Assad scoffed at the idea of buffer zones within Syria for those displaced, speaking in a television interview to be broadcast by the pro-regime Addounia channel on Wednesday.
"Talk of buffer zones firstly is not on the table and secondly it is an unrealistic idea by hostile countries and the enemies of Syria," he said.
French President Francois Hollande said on Monday France was working with its partners on the possible establishment of buffer zones.
His foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, admitted Wednesday that plans to create buffer zones in Syria were "very complicated" and would require the imposition of partial no-fly zones.
Davutoglu urged the United Nations to develop appropriate ways and methods for sheltering thousands of refugees inside Syria, amid fears that Turkey may soon be unable to cope with new arrivals.
Turkey is already home to more than 80,000 refugees staying in camps along the border, up from around 45,000 in late July.
And thousands of refugees have been stuck at the Syrian side of the border since Monday, waiting to be accommodated in new camps Turkey is building.
Turkish media footage showed Wednesday the stranded Syrians demonstrating across the Turkish border, waving Turkish flags and holding banners that asked "we want a buffer zone for our women and children".
In Ankara, Davutoglu said talks were under way with U.N. officials, urging the United Nations to "take more concrete steps," according to Anatolia.
Davutoglu was expected to hold bilateral talks with the French, German and British foreign ministers on the sidelines of the New York meeting.
Source: Agence France Presse
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