Turkey Calls for Syria Buffer Zone
15:25 20/08/2012 MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged the UN on Monday to create a buffer zone for refugees in northern Syria, the Hurriyet daily reported.
Turkey can accept no more than 100,000 Syrian refugees; others will need to look for alternative options, he said, adding that there are already over 70,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey with hundreds of people crossing the Turkish border every day.
The problem could be resolved by setting up refugee camps in Syria under UN protection, the minister said.
The situation will be discussed on August 30 by representatives of UN Security Council member states, he said.
Moscow and Beijing have stated they are strongly opposed to any foreign interference in Syrian affairs.
Since March 2011, the Syrian conflict has claimed up to 20,000 lives, according to estimates by various Syrian opposition groups. The West is pushing for President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster, while Russia and China are trying to prevent outside interference in Syria saying the Assad regime and the opposition are both to blame for the bloodshed.
