Turkey edges nearer to buffer zone for Syrians

March 26, 2012 - 2:16 PM
Turkey Buffer Zone


ISTANBUL (AP) — Events are pushing Turkey ever closer to setting up a buffer zone in Syria to protect civilians.

Turkish officials have long been hesitant about the idea, even while the U.N. reported that thousands of Syrians were being killed as President Bashar Assad's forces crush dissent.

But on Monday, a Turkish official indicated that a surge of refugees from Syria might compel Turkey, preferably with international backing, to establish a buffer zone on Syrian soil to guarantee the security of its own southern border as well as the welfare of civilians fleeing violence.

"This is just an option. Nothing has been decided so far," the official told journalists on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Turkey already shelters 17,000 Syrians in refugee camps, and the official did not say how many more refugees might constitute a tipping point.

But there are a host of factors for Turkey to worry about.

A safe zone would necessarily involve Turkish security forces and involve the potential for clashes with neighboring Syrian troops.

Establishing a buffer zone on the grounds of Turkish national security would sidestep the gridlock now immobilizing the U.N. Security Council, where Russia and China have blocked action against the Assad's regime.

But the move would likely lack international consensus, raise questions about Syria's territorial integrity and highlight a year of failed diplomacy aimed at pressuring Assad to stop his violent crackdown.

This potential game-changer could undermine Assad by setting the stage for full-fledged intervention by foreign militaries, as was done in Libya. But it could also trigger sectarian or regional strife that Turkey and its Western and Arab allies would struggle to control.

Turkey has done this before, in 1991, when it set up a buffer zone to deal with hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees flooding over the border from Iraq during dictator Saddam Hussein's war with a U.S.-led coalition.

The Turkish official referred to the possibility of "a huge influx like we faced in the first Gulf War" or suggested that demand for a buffer zone could be triggered by a sharp upswing in atrocities in Syria, such as "massacres by hundreds a day."

"Nobody knows what would happen in such an eventuality," the official said.

So far, Turkey has handled the stream of refugees from Syria in an orderly way, setting up camps and issuing IDs to allow refugees some freedom of movement outside their temporary homes.

However, the number of refugees, which had stabilized at around 7,500 two months ago, has since climbed by another 10,000 as Syrian forces moved to dislodge rebels and occupy towns near the border with Turkey. Last week, about 1,000 Syrians crossed into Turkey in one 24-hour period.

"The insecurity in Syria is directly affecting us," the Turkish official said.

The Turkish Red Crescent has warned that, in a worst-case scenario, up to 500,000 Syrians could attempt to enter Turkey. The two countries share a 911-kilometer (566-mile) border that has minefields in some areas.

Turkey is caught between the desire for international legitimacy on a Syrian strategy and the discomfort of standing by as Assad's forces assault civilian centers across the border. On Monday, Turkey closed its embassies in Damascus and called back its ambassador to Syria, citing a worsening security situation.

Norway also closed its embassy, joining the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries that have done the same in an effort to isolate Syria.

In Istanbul on April 1, Turkey hosts a meeting of the United States and dozens of other nations that will encourage the divided Syrian opposition to form a viable alternative to the Assad regime, which has largely held firm despite military defections and strains on its resources.







