Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addressed the UN Security Council today, demanding the imposition of a humanitarian “safe zone” for the refugees oft he civil war and urging “robust” action to prevent ongoing violence in the nation.
A number of Syrian refugees have made similar calls for a safe zone where they can escape the violence without fleeing the country outright, but it is seen as a virtual impossibility after NATO nations have presented past plans as a way to overtly aid the rebels.
In previous comments the US has openly talked about using the “safe zones,” nominally a combat-free humanitarian zone, as a base of operation for the rebels to regroup and launch attacks from. Even today’s Turkish proposal was followed by French and British calls to expand it to include a “no-fly zone.”
Russia and China are both certain to veto any no-fly zone after NATO used one as an excuse for a full-scale war of regime change in Libya, and Western comments that suggest a Syria humanitarian corridor would be similarly interpreted seems almost certain to kill the plan.
