Decision on No-Fly Zone in Northern Syria Must Be Made by UNSC – Turkish FM

The decision on introducing the no-fly zone in northern Syria must be made by the UN Security Council, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) – Discussions of enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria resurfaced this week after Turkey had launched its Euphrates Shield operation with US-led coalition backing and the stated aim of clearing the border town of Jabulus from Daesh.

"After the territory is fully cleared from Daesh, a de-facto security zone will be created there. If the no-fly zone is created, the process of returning refugees will be accelerated. We have been offering creation of the no-fly zone in northern Syria for a long time. That is not only the NATO work – the decision must be made by the UN Security Council," Cavusoglu said at the joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

He added that life in the northern Syrian territories liberated from Daesh terrorists was going back to normal with Syrian refugees returning from Turkey.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that Russia is skeptical about creating the no-fly zone in Syria after negative experience of creating such zone in Libya five years ago.