Turks want to take more land. Iran Warns Against Erdogan’s Plot to Create Buffer Zone in Syria
Asbarez
23 hours ago
Kurds watch smoke rise from the Syrian town of Kobane from across the border in Turkey in October, 2014 (Source: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach)
TEHRAN (FNA)—Vice-Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mansour Haqiqatpour has warned against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s alleged plan to disintegrate Syria by proposing the creation of a buffer zone in the northern parts of the country.
“What Erdogan is trying to do is a dangerous scenario for disintegrating Syria,” Haqiqatpour told Fars News Agency on Friday.
Haqiqatpour said that the Turkish president would be making a mistake by creating a buffer zone in northern Syria, and that he would pay a heavy price for that mistake.
Haqiqatpour said that Erdogan, who has been a staunch supporter of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, is now trying to create conditions that would allow for the suppression of the Kurds and separate northern Syria from the rest of the country using his buffer zone plan.
Last Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry voiced Tehran’s strong opposition to the creation of a buffer zone in Syria as a violation of the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and said such measures would make the conditions of the region even more critical.
“[The] creation of a buffer zone inside Syria is a violation of the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian told FNA.
“Some solutions should be found so that international rights are not violated,” he added.
“There is no need to make the regional conditions more critical with such unnecessary measures,” Amir Abdollahian said.
His remarks come after media reports last week claimed that Turkey was ready for military intervention in Syria, under the pretext of creating a buffer zone to protect the Turkish border against the threat of the terrorism.
In October, Syria’s Foreign Ministry rejected talks to impose a buffer zone in Syria.
“The Turkish attempts to establish a buffer zone on Syrian soil is a flagrant violation to the charters of the UN and international law,” the ministry said in a statement.
It added that “Syria totally rejects the establishment of a buffer zone on any part of its terrain under any pretext and also rejects foreign military intervention on its soil”.
The ministry stressed that the Syrian government would take all necessary measures to protect its national sovereignty and the unity of its territories after consulting with other countries.
The statement came as Turkey floated the idea of setting up a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border under many pretexts, mainly to solve the issue of the influx of Syrian refugees into Turkey.
Edited by onjig, 18 August 2015 - 10:48 AM.
