Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said the formation of a safe zone inside Syria, free from the Islamic State group, would help the return of 1.7 million refugees.
“The clearance of those regions and the creation of a safe zone there will lay the ground for 1.7 citizens here to return home,” Erdogan told reporters at an airport in Ankara.
Swathes of northern Syria cleared of ISIS militants will become a “safe zone”, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday, after Turkish warplanes pounded militant positions in a series of strikes.
“When areas in northern Syria are cleared of the (ISIL) threat, the safe zones will be formed naturally,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told a news conference.
“We have always defended safe zones and no-fly zones in Syria. People who have been displaced can be placed in those safe zones.”
The Syrian Coalition has repeatedly called on the international anti-ISIS coalition to impose safe areas in Syria and to supply the FSA with the necessary means to protect civilians and rein Assad’s air force as well as to drive ISIS out of the liberated areas.
The Syrian Coalition stresses the importance of establishing a safe zone to protect civilians from the daily atrocities committed by terrorist organizations, most notably the Assad regime, warning that any further delay in taking this step would cost the Syrian people more lives. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)
