State Dept. grilled for not backing safe zone in Syria

By Esra Kaymak Avci

WASHINGTON

Reporters on Thursday grilled the U.S. for not supporting a safe zone in Syria after a refugee camp in the north was bombed by President Bashar al Assad forces.

While the U.S. and Russia recently agreed to halt the ongoing violence in parts of Syria with a new short-term truce, Assad forces reportedly attacked a refugee camp in Idlib province, where at least 27 victims were killed.

During a press briefing at the State Department, reporters asked spokesman Mark Toner about the incident, to which he said the U.S. was monitoring the incident.

Though not blaming the Assad regime, Toner said there is "absolutely no justification for attacks on civilians in Syria.

"Especially on what appears to have been a refugee camp."

When asked why the U.S. did not lean toward the idea of building safe zones for Syrian civilians in Aleppo, Toner reiterated that U.S. did not want "to set up specific no-fly-zones."

Since the civil war started in Syria in 2011, Turkey has urged the international community to build a safe zone, specifically in northern Syria.

But the U.S. has argued that building safe zones on the border or around Aleppo would be a logistical challenge as it would also require protection of the areas.

"What we're working towards and what we're trying to get in place here is a nationwide cessation of hostilities that we believe can endure and be strengthened over the long haul," he said.

Toner was pushed about whether it was wrong for the U.S. to want to stop a refugee flow from Syria into Europe, while not doing anything to prevent these kind of incidents.

"I don't have anything," Toner replied, but added that the U.S. would continue to condemn those kinds of attacks and push to have them stopped.

Residents of Aleppo, Idlib and Latakia have fled their homes in recent weeks because of regime attacks on opposition-controlled areas and have sought refuge in the Kamuna camp near Sarmada, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Turkish border.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry will be in Paris early next week for bilateral discussions with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Syria and Ukraine are on the agenda, according to the State Department.

Kerry will then travel to the U.K. where he will meet with that country’s Foreign Minster Philip Hammond.