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Turkey and Russia skeptical of Trump's plan to create safe havens in Syria
Source: The Guardian
Turkey and Russia skeptical of Trump's plan to create safe havens in Syria
US president’s proposal met with caution from Russian and Turkish
officials over northern safe zones as others fear possible intention
to keep refugees out of US
Martin Chulov in Beirut, Kareem Shaheen in Istanbul and Spencer Ackerman in New York
Thursday 26 January 2017 19.16 GMT
Donald Trump’s proposal to set up safe havens in northern Syria has been met with caution by his allies and skepticism by others who fear the plan is aimed more at keeping refugees out of the US than providing for humanitarian needs.
Turkey and Russia, on whom such a plan would heavily depend, on Thursday said they had not been consulted, hours after the US president pledged to “absolutely do safe zones in Syria for the people”. Moscow said it was important not to “exacerbate the situation”, while Ankara said a safe zone had already been set up under its auspices.
Trump’s comments followed the release of a draft executive order, which ordered a study of how safe zones in highly volatile northern Syria could protect Syrian nationals awaiting resettlement. Speaking to ABC News, he gave the proposal significant impetus, but offered no clarity on how, or when, such a move might happen.
Safe zones have been a core demand of the Syrian opposition and were central to Turkey’s Syria policy for much of the past five years. Barack Obama refused to commit resources, arguing that the US would get bogged down in an intractable conflict and could be drawn into clashes with regional powers, including Russia.
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US president’s proposal met with caution from Russian and Turkish
officials over northern safe zones as others fear possible intention
to keep refugees out of US
Martin Chulov in Beirut, Kareem Shaheen in Istanbul and Spencer Ackerman in New York
Thursday 26 January 2017 19.16 GMT
Donald Trump’s proposal to set up safe havens in northern Syria has been met with caution by his allies and skepticism by others who fear the plan is aimed more at keeping refugees out of the US than providing for humanitarian needs.
Turkey and Russia, on whom such a plan would heavily depend, on Thursday said they had not been consulted, hours after the US president pledged to “absolutely do safe zones in Syria for the people”. Moscow said it was important not to “exacerbate the situation”, while Ankara said a safe zone had already been set up under its auspices.
Trump’s comments followed the release of a draft executive order, which ordered a study of how safe zones in highly volatile northern Syria could protect Syrian nationals awaiting resettlement. Speaking to ABC News, he gave the proposal significant impetus, but offered no clarity on how, or when, such a move might happen.
Safe zones have been a core demand of the Syrian opposition and were central to Turkey’s Syria policy for much of the past five years. Barack Obama refused to commit resources, arguing that the US would get bogged down in an intractable conflict and could be drawn into clashes with regional powers, including Russia.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/26/turkey-russia-trump-syria-safe-zones
