Turkey wants a secure strip of territory 10 kilometres deep on the Syrian side of its border, including the town of Azaz, to prevent attempts to “change the demographic structure” of the area, Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan says.
Azaz is the last rebel stronghold before the border with Turkey north of the Syrian city of Aleppo, part of what was a supply route from Turkey to the rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad.
“There is a game being played with the aim of changing the demographic structure,” Mr Akdogan said in an interview. “Turkey should not be part of this game.
“What we want is to create a secure strip, including Azaz, 10 kilometres deep inside Syria and this zone should be free from clashes.”
Turkey, home to more than 2.6 million Syrian refugees, has long pushed for the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria to protect displaced civilians, avoiding the need to bring them into Turkey.
But the proposal has so far gained little traction with Washington or NATO allies who fear it would require an internationally patrolled no-fly zone which could put them in direct confrontation with Assad and his allies.
“Today our rules of engagement may be just about responding to an armed attack against our country, but tomorrow if necessary those rules can be expanded to cover every threat.”
Mr Akdogan said another 600,000 people could flee to the Turkish border if Aleppo fell to the Syrian army.

Source: abc.net – Reuters/AFP, 17 FEB 2016