Sometimes NATO ally Turkey's pm Davutoğlu offers ‘safe zones’ in Syria against ISIL attacks.

Sometimes NATO ally Turkey's pm Davutoğlu offers ‘safe zones’ in Syria against ISIL attacks.(BGNNews).

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Wednesday Turkey’s demand for a safe haven for refugees includes Syria's highly-populated regions along the Turkish border, which too had been hit hard by the Bashar al-Assad regime and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or the ISIL

"It must be in the north of Aleppo as it has been under threat from both regime and the ISIL militants," he said.

Turkey has been pushing the international community, including the UN to establish a no-fly zone and a safe haven for refugees inside Syria near the Turkish border. Thousands of civilians from the Syrian border town of Kobani have been fleeing into Turkey since mid-September when their homes came under attack by ISIL militants.

Davutoğlu said the safe havens must also involve regions in Idlib near the border with Turkey, northern Latakia, Hasakah, Jarablus and Kobani.

"It should be an area under international guarantee so that the Syrian people feel secure from air and land offensives," he added.

The prime minister said Turkey preferred the UN Security Council to determine the areas to be designated as safe havens in Syria.

He said the international coalition could provide a safe zone like it did in the past during the First Gulf War in the 90s, which protected civilians from Saddam Hussain's attacks.

Referring to the calls for Ankara to intervene militarily in Syria to save Kobani, he said: "if you demand Turkey to intervene alone in Syria in the absence of such a zone, it means you want Turkey to take the entire burden on its own."

Opposition agrees

The newly re-elected leader of the Syrian opposition’s interim government, Ahmad Tomeh, has said there is “a great chance” for the creation of buffer zones within Syria.

Speaking to the media late on Wednesday in Istanbul, Tomeh said: “Such a proposition can be approved within four months. Meanwhile, we can prepare for moving our government to Syrian soil.”

Tomeh claimed that the majority of the interim administration’s personnel is based in Syria although the government remains İstanbul-based.

However, Syrian regime officials on Wednesday rejected the establishment of such buffer zones in any part of its territory under any pretext, Syrian news agency SANA said
Hmmm....Somehow Turkey wants to use the Fight against ISIS to overthrow Assad, this was NEVER the mission and Turkey does not Make US Foreign policy...time to make this clear. They really think Iran and Russia will say go ahead Turkey just occupy Syria? Madness.

Buffer zone that Turkey wants Interesting how #ISIS controlled Raqqa not incl but all Kurdish territories included;) pic.twitter.com/pE3YyTC5n4"

— curdistani (@curdistani) October 16, 2014