Turkey to impose 'Safe Zone': media

By Zaman Staff; Translation by Yusra Ahmed

ANKARA-(Zaman Al Wasl)- Turkey solely to create a “safe zone” to the North of Syria, to face the expected new influx of Syrian refugees, as a result of the ongoing fighting with regime and ISIS, and closure of Lebanese boarders in Syrian refugees’ faces.

Turkey’s government to decide setting up a safe zone to the North of Syria, within or beyond Turkish borders, as Ankara seeks to meet the requirements of new wave of refugees in a safe zone and plan to resettle Syrians living in Turkey in the zone.

Turkish government believes that the US- led coalition against the Islamic State “ISIS” has no right to object founding the safe zone within Turkish borders, but when it comes to building it beyond the borders, any objection will force Turkey to demand countries to find a solution or settle refugees in their countries, government’s sources reported.

Turkey is getting ready to face a new influx of Syrians, as refugees from Syria are no longer welcome in Lebanon. Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas announced on Thursday that Lebanon would not accept any more Syrian refugees except some "exceptional" cases.

Earlier this month, Turkey’s president Rajab Tayyeb Erdogan said: “1.5 million people have fled from war to our country. We propose the establishment of a safe zone on the Syrian border for these people,”

He added that once the safe zone was set up, it could be secured by establishing “a no fly-zone” and the military troops would protect it

The United Nation High Commission for Refugees’s “UNHCR” spokeswoman in Turkey confirmed that more than 1.6 million Syrian refugees are in Turkey, and explained that no enough financial support to UNHCR to cover refugees needs.

Deputy prime minister, Muman Kurtulmus confirmed that Turkey never complained of the spending for Syrian refugees which reached to $4 Billion, but showed that the number in increasing sharply recently.

European Union “EU” countries and the United States remain extremely reluctant to accept Syrian refugees leaving the burden of dealing with the flood of refugees to neighbouring countries. It is estimated that only 60,000 Syrian refugees have declared political asylum in EU countries since the start of the conflict in Syria, the majority in Germany and Sweden.