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29 March 2024

Turkey for 'any scenario' in Syria

Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Khalidieh, near Homs. (REUTERS)

Published
By Reuters

Turkey said on Tuesday it did not want military intervention in Syria but was ready for any scenario while Damascus cracks down on protests against President Bashar Al Assad, including setting up a buffer zone to contain any mass influx of refugees.

A former friend of Syria, Turkey is now a vocal critic of Assad and his military action against protesters calling for his overthrow. Turkey has said it will follow the Arab League in imposing sanctions on Damascus.

"If the oppression continues, Turkey is ready for any scenario. We hope that a military intervention will never be necessary. The Syrian regime has to find a way of making peace with its own people," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with television broadcaster Kanal 24.

"If tens, hundreds of thousands of people start advancing towards the Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey borders, not only Turkey but the international community may be required to take some steps such as a buffer zone. We don't want that to happen but we must consider and work on that scenario."

The Turkish army set up a security buffer zone inside northern Iraq during the first Gulf War in 1991 and have maintained small detachments there ever since.

Turkey's border with Syria is 800 km long, of which more than 500 km (300 miles) is mined on the Turkish side to a depth of up to 300 metres (yards), the legacy of an era when Syria and Turkey almost went to war over a Syrian policy of housing Kurdish militants.

Davutoglu said Assad was making the "same mistakes" as fallen strongmen Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Saddam Hussein of Iraq in unleashing oppression that only spawned more opposition.

He said Damascus still had a chance to accept international observers proposed by the Arab League.

A government that tortures its own people had no chance of survival, he said.

TRADE VIA IRAQ

Another minister said Turkey, Syria's largest trading partner with bilateral trade worth $2.5 billion last year, would conduct trade with the Middle East via Iraq if the violence worsened in Syria.

"We will carry out transit transportation through Iraq via opening new border gates if conditions in Syria worsen," Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said.

"Transportation through Iraq and Jordan to Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Gulf countries will be supported more and the work on this route will gain pace."

The Arab League on Sunday imposed sanctions on Damascus over the crackdown, in which more than 3,500 people have been killed in eight months, according to the United Nations. The European Union weighed in one day later.

Ankara has said it will follow the Arab League in imposing sanctions on Syria, but that it would apply the measures selectively to avoid harming the Syrian people.

Yildirim said civil aviation flights will not be halted and Turkish Airlines services to Damascus will continue, but that Turkey would continue enforcing an arms embargo.

Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Tuesday the flow of electricity would not be restricted as this was a basic need.

The Turkish newspaper Sabah, without identifying sources, said Syrian government accounts at the Turkish central bank will be suspended, official sales to the Syrian state will be halted and a travel ban will be imposed on Assad and his family.

The paper said the Arab League measures were discussed at a meeting of Turkish ministers on Sunday and will be imposed after approval from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.