'Turkey cannot impose buffer zone alone, needs int’l backing'
Turkey cannot impose a buffer zone along the Syrian border without a U.N. Security Council decision, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chair Beşir Atalay said on Sept. 19.
Atalay also told journalists that a buffer zone alone would not be sufficient, stressing that a "no-fly zone" was required for the area to become a truly safe haven.
He recalled that Turkey has been asking for a buffer zone along the Turkish-Syrian border since the crisis erupted in the neighboring country.
“[At the beginning of the civil war] we extensively discussed the idea of buffer zone. We held security meetings and decided it would be best to keep the refugees on the Syrian side of the border and provide for them there,” Atalay said, adding that the Foreign Ministry applied to the U.N. for a buffer zone decision but the initiative failed.
Turkey would have set up refugee camps within the safe zone inside Syria if the U.N. had issued the decision, he said.
If Turkey’s plans for a safe zone along the Syrian border fail, it will have to continue receiving Syrian refugees, Atalay added.
The AKP deputy chair also said an upcoming government motion to renew a mandate to send troops to northern Iraq, and another motion authorizing cross-border military operations in Syria, will be discussed in Parliament on Oct. 7 and Oct. 17. No decision has yet been made on combining the two motions, he stressed.
'Turkey cannot impose buffer zone alone, needs int’l backing' - POLITICS
Question is directed towards PM Davutoglu
There is talk about an operational preparation at the border that is capable of providing aid. Is it possible to associate this with the buffer zone? Also, will there be any developments about the no-fly zone?
Aid at the border is not new. There has to be a buffer zone for this. We have aided hundreds of thousands at the Syrian border and we were able to keep the numbers at a certain level for a while. If the same situation arises in Kobani, in places where Kurds live, instructions have been given to the governors of our border provinces. All kinds of work will be prepared for humanitarian aid. If a very serious security problem occurs and they arrive here having fled, seeking shelter, then the situation is different indeed. Right now seven villages are affected. In the event that those seven villages come to the border for a safer zone, we will provide aid to meet their needs.
We have helped the Yezidis too. We first met them across the border, but right now there are more than 35,000 Yezidis inside. Even though some people claim that there is no aid delivered to the Yezidis, right now more than 35,000 Yezidis are hosted in Turkey. Everyone should see what kind of an effort is exerted on the Syrian and Iraqi borders. On one side you take security measures, on the other hand you also have to help these people. Actually, this also shows where the capacity of the state has reached. Was it possible to do the same in the 1990s?
Barzani once told us, “While I was talking to my father, there was an incident when I felt hopeless…” It was the 1960s and Cevdet Sunay was the Turkish president. At that time, the Iraqi regime was oppressing the Kurds. The Kurds asked for help, writing to many countries, including Turkey. Some countries said “Yes,” some countries responded by saying they would do whatever they could. From Ankara, the letter was returned without even being opened. But this was the old Turkey. In the ‘New Turkey,’ let alone not answering the letter, we are here with all our presence. In the past, there was both reluctance and rejection. Now, there is no reluctance left, there is power and capacity to help. Late President Özal would have also wanted to help as much as he could, but the capacity of the country was not enough at that time.
We will provide aid at the border. Buffer zone and no-fly zone are subjects that we have been bringing up anyway. We brought up the buffer zone for humanitarian reasons. In other words, it is not a military buffer zone. There should be such a place where people can take shelter under the assurances of the U.N., while those people will also not generate pressure across our borders. They will not have lost hope about the future of Syria. Domestic migration, displacement inside a country, can always be retrieved, but external migration causes incurable wounds.
So for this reason we are constantly saying “safe zone.” If this had already happened, then 1.5 million Syrians would have been staying along our border. We would still be delivering the same aid, but the Syrians would not have the impression of “We are living in another country.” Now, the same thing goes for the Kurds. It is important that they are protected on their own land when they flee due to ISIL pressure. The demand for a buffer zone is in favor of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens, everybody living in this region. It is a humanitarian thing.
The no-fly zone is a strategic and humanitarian demand. Why? If there had been a no-fly zone declared in Syria when we asked for it, then ISIL would not have been able to spread to such a wide area. You may ask whether ISIL has planes. No it doesn’t. But when the regime bombarded the opposition, it had to retreat to places safe from air attacks, and ISIL entered these vacated places. So a tactical coalition was formed between ISIL and the regime. This is how ISIL grew.
If there was a “no-fly zone” and no air operations, then the Free Syrian Army could have advanced more easily, protected itself and maybe a new administration could have been possible.
But the no-fly zone was opposed on grounds that it would constitute a reason for war, that it would escalate the war. But the lack of a no-fly zone has created the situation we have today. We have made the necessary warnings at every stage of this.
Now, behind the criticism in the U.S. media against Turkey lies this feeling of guilt.
Before, a safe zone was more necessary for the
Sunni Arabs and Turkmens. Today, it is necessary for the Kurds too. Maybe tomorrow it will be necessary for the Nusayris.
Until now, it was perceived in this way. When Turkey sat down to talk to the West, it was as if it was a side that had to explain something. When we sit down next time, the first thing we will say is, “We warned you.” We told them about Iraq and Syria. Some people are trying to put us into a guilt psychology, but on the contrary we will say, “We told you about all of this.” If the Free Syrian Army had been supported strongly and a if a no-fly zone had been declared, most of these things would not have occurred.
Lack of no-fly zone in Syria aided ISIL, Turkish PM says - POLITICS
