In a meeting at the G20 in China, Erdogan said, "We are working for this region to be declared no-fly zone," in reference to the land extending from Jarabulus to Azaz in northern Syria seized from ISIS militants.
"This is my proposal to Mr Putin and Mr Obama. This can be done with coalition forces," he added in televised comments.
Turkey launched a bold operation inside Syria on August 24, sending tanks in to back opposition fighters’ factions from the Free Syrian Army.
ISIS militants were successfully pushed out from their last positions along the Turkish-Syrian border on Sunday. This deprived them of a key transit point for recruits and supplies.
Ankara has often called for a safe-zone inside Syria, backed up with a no-fly zone, as it is currently hosting more than 2.5 million refugees who fled the over five-year war.
In China, Erdogan said he told all world leaders at the Antalya summit last year that "in Syria a safe zone could be set up... and we could solve the refugee crisis."
He added: "Now in this summit, to all of our friends, we have brought up this issue and told them this."
The Turkish president also said his country was cooperating with Russia for a ceasefire to be declared in the Aleppo region before the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday, which is due around September 12.
"We are currently cooperating with Russia in the region of Aleppo. We are working for a ceasefire to be declared in the region."
التعليقات (0)