Turkey says it is too early to comment on U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to establish safe zones in Syria.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu said Thursday it will be important to first see the results of studies that Trump is expected to order from the Pentagon and State Department about instituting zones where civilians in Syria could be safe from the country’s ongoing conflict.
Turkey, which shares a border with Syria, has long advocated safe zones. Former U.S. President Barack Obama did not support the idea, citing the potential challenges involved in safeguarding those areas, including the possible use of U.S. ground troops or an expanded air mission to enforce a no-fly zone.
FILE – Members of a Syrian family carry their belongings after they crossed into Turkey at the Cilvegozu border gate with Syria, near Hatay, southeastern Turkey, Dec, 18, 2016.
Turkey has in a way carved out areas inside of Syria through an air and ground offensive it launched last year to drive Islamic State fighters from the border region.
In Russia, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the Russian government has not been consulted by Trump’s administration. He added that all of the potential consequences of a no-fly zone need to measured first, and that “it’s important not to exacerbate the situation with refugees.”
Humanitarian crisis
The nearly six-year-old war in Syria sparked a huge humanitarian crisis in the region with nearly five million Syrian refugees currently living in neighboring countries, while many others have gone to Europe. Many places in those host nations have struggled to provide services and have dealt with sharp public debates about whether to let people fleeing violence and instability into their country.
Syrian women prepare food for their family outside their tents, at a Syrian refugee camp in the town of Bar Elias, in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, March 29, 2016.
Earlier this week, Turkey and Russia, along with Iran, brought delegates from the Syrian government and rebel groups to Kazakhstan for a round of peace talks that ended with the three nations agreeing to help monitor a partial cease-fire and work toward a political resolution to the conflict.
From left, Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Onal, Russia’s special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaber Ansari pose for a photo after the final statement following the talks on Syrian peace in Astana, Kazakhstan, Jan. 24, 2017.
Turkey spokesman Muftuoglu said Thursday his country will not allow certain fighters to spoil the cease-fire, which went into effect in late December. He also reiterated Turkey’s position that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has no place in Syria’s future. Turkey has backed the rebels throughout the conflict that began in 2011 as peaceful protests before spiraling into a civil war.
Assad’s fate has been a point of disagreement during multiple international efforts to achieve peace in Syria. The U.N. has created a framework that calls for a new constitution and new elections. Assad’s allies, which include Russia and Iran, have said he should stay in power.
The next peace talks are scheduled to take place February 8 in Geneva.
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