Initiative on No-Fly Zone Over Syria 'Difficult to Implement'

It will be difficult to implement an initiative to establish a no-fly zone over Syria in the nearest future, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Berlin's plans to submit a proposal on the establishment of a no-fly zone over Syria to UN working groups in Geneva. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday it was Turkey, not Germany that came up with the initiative to create a no-fly zone over Syria.

"It is very difficult to implement. I don't think this is a plan which would come to fruition in next couple of weeks," Rutte told journalists.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, which borders Syria, has been vocal in calling for a no-fly zone over the war-torn country since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011. In November, US President Barack Obama stated that imposing a no-fly zone in Syria to improve the humanitarian situation in the region was counterproductive.