The
Turkish prime minister has told the BBC that Turkey will push again for
a no-fly zone over northern Syria to protect civilians fleeing both
Islamic State and Syrian government forces.
Ahmet Davutoglu said he would work with the US to establish a "safe area" for people displaced by Syria's conflict.
Mr Davutoglu did not rule out sending Turkish troops in to protect the area.
Turkey is home to more Syrian refugees than any other country - more than 1.8 million according to recent UN figures.
In
a wide-ranging interview with the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, Mr Davutoglu
called on the international community to do more to resolve the
four-year conflict in Syria and denied that Turkey had helped so-called
Islamic State and other extremist groups.
He criticised the five
permanent members of the UN Security Council for failing to make a
"strong decision" to stop the atrocities in Syria.
Asked whether
Turkey was doing enough to prevent the large numbers of migrants
reaching Europe though his country, he said it was the responsibility of
the international community to stem the flow of migrants by bringing
the four-year conflict in Syria to an end.
Despite not ruling out
the use of Turkish ground troops, Mr Davutoglu said he preferred to
strengthen Syria's moderate opposition.
"If
there is enough power of moderate forces in Syria, there will not be
any necessity for other countries including Turkey to send any ground
troops," he said
Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, Middle East Editor
Turkey's
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu argues that the bloodshed in Syria is
still out of control because of a simple fact of international life: the
five permanent members of the UN Security Council are paralysed when it
comes to dealing with Syria's war. They haven't been able to agree a
single course of action.
When he was foreign minister, Mr
Davutoglu was praised for a policy based on the idea that Turkey should
have no problems with its neighbours. But the collapse of much of the
Middle East into violence means the Turks face challenges wherever they
look.
They are struggling most with fall-out from the Syrian war,
in which Turkey is deeply involved. The war has converged with the much
older fault line between the Turkish state and Kurdish separatists. It's
another example of how the Syrian war is making existing problems much
worse. Turkey v Islamic State v the Kurds: What's going on? Profile: Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Turkey's dangerous game Opponents
of the Turkish government have accused it of using the conflict with IS
jihadists to target the Kurdish separatist militant group, the PKK.
A
ceasefire in Turkey's long-running conflict with the group
disintegrated in July, when a suicide bombing blamed on IS killed 32
people in the predominantly Kurdish town of Suruc.
The PKK's
military wing killed two Turkish police officers, claiming they had
collaborated with IS in the bombing, and in response Turkey began
bombing PKK camps in northern Iraq at the same time as launching air
strikes on IS militants in Syria.
More than 50 people are thought
to have been killed in Turkey in violence linked to the PKK since the
current crisis began. The number of PKK militants killed in Turkish air
strikes is unknown, but unconfirmed reports in Turkish media said that
190 were killed and more than 300 injured in two major strikes in Turkey
and northern Iraq in July.
Turkey launched a fresh round of air
strikes in the south-east of the country on Tuesday as the PKK said it
was behind Monday's bombing of a police station in Istanbul.
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country would continue to fight
the PKK "until not one terrorist is left within our borders" and "until
concrete is poured" over the separatists' weapons. Mr
Davutoglu denied that Turkey was at war with the Kurds, arguing instead
that the country was retaliating against a terrorist group.
"You can not say if al-Qaeda attacks Britain it is a war between Britain and al-Qaeda. This is a terrorist attack," he said.
"No
government, neither European or American democratic government can
tolerate a group which is calling people for rebellion against the
legitimate government," he added.
The PKK is regarded as a terrorist group by many Western countries, including the US and the UK.
More
than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK began its armed
struggle against the Turkish government in 1984. In the 1990s, the
organisation dropped its demand for a Kurdish state and instead called
for more autonomy for the Kurds.
But Mr Davutoglu has said since
the recent resumption of violence that air strikes against the group
will continue until it surrenders.
The leader of the PKK, Cemil Bayik, told the BBC on Sunday
that he believed Turkey wanted IS to succeed in order to prevent
Kurdish gains. Kurdish fighters - among them the PKK - have secured
significant victories against IS militants in Syria and Iraq.
Turkey's
battle with the PKK is complicating the US-led war on IS, for which the
US has relied heavily on Syrian Kurdish fighters affiliated with
Turkey's Kurdish rebels.
Turkey has been accused, along with Saudi
Arabia and Qatar, or supporting jihadist elements in Syria in the early
stages of the formation of IS.
Mr Davutoglu rejected the accusation, telling the BBC Turkey had never supported IS or other extremist groups such as al-Nusra.
"No.
Never. Never. Never. We supported only those who escaped from
Assad's atrocities - chemical weapons, barrel bombs," he said.
"This
is an unfair assessment and accusation against Turkey which there is no
ground at all. If there is anybody who has a proof for this, they
should put this on the table."
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