Turkey slams security council for Syria inaction, demands safe zone

Turkey appealed to a reluctant UN Security Council yesterday  for a safe haven for thousands of Syrians facing a "humanitarian disaster" as Britain and France said they would rule out no options - including a no-fly zone - to aid residents fleeing an escalating civil war. But Turkish leaders held out little hope for the endorsement of a deeply divided council that has been paralyzed on taking action to stop the 18-month uprising that has killed more than 20,000 people. "How long are we going to sit and watch while an entire generation is being wiped out by random bombardment and deliberate mass targeting?" asked Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. "Let's not forget that if we do not act against such a crime against humanity happening in front of our eyes, we become accomplices to the crime."Davutoglu proposed that the council establish camps for refugees forced to flee their homes, urging the council to take "long overdue steps" to help the suffering people. "Apparently, I was wrong about my expectations," he told the council. "This meeting will not even end with a presidential or press statement, let alone a robust resolution." In his speech, the Turkish minister told the council that that the camps established for fleeing Syrians "should have full protection." Davutoglu said Turkey is constantly building new camps to host them but it takes approximately a month to build a camp, but usually in two days they become full, as the average number of daily entries is around 4,000.Davutoglu added that the scale of the tragedy in Syria growing so out of proportions that Turkey finds it increasingly difficult to cope with the ensuing challenges all by itself."We feel that the open door policy of Turkey and the other neighbors of Syria is actually absorbing the potential international reaction, as the tragic consequences of the brutality by the regime in Syria are all being dealt with by the neighboring countries," he said. Turkish foreign minister continued that given the fact that "we are using up all our capabilities and our preparations cannot cope with the current average flow of refugees, we will be in a serious difficulty to tackle the current trend of influx by the regular measures."Davutoglu explicitly blamed the Syrian regime for the deaths and violence. "Let us also be clear," he said, adding that "there is only one side which is responsible for this tragedy: the regime in Syria.""Therefore, we appeal to the members of the Council to take responsibility in putting an end to the atrocities committed by the regime against the people of Syria, enable the democratic transition in accordance with the legitimate demands of the people and thereby to restore security and stability in this part of the world," he underlined.