Erdogan urges UN to impose no-fly zone on Syria

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday urged the United Nations Security Council to intervene to protect Syrian civilians and impose a no-fly zone area inside the Arab country. In a joint press conference here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the UNSC members have to overcome differences and agree on a no-fly zone in Syria to protect civilians from strikes of the jetfighters. He noted that the number of the Syrians who fled their country into Turkey to escape violence at home have jumped up to 102,000. With regard to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union (EU), Erdogan warned that the European bloc will "lose" Turkey if it doesn't grant it membership by 2023. Turkey's bid to join the EU, officially launched in 2005, has virtually ground to a halt in recent years due to opposition from core EU members and the failure to find a solution to the dispute over the divided island of Cyprus. The predominantly Muslim but secular country of some 74 million people would strengthen the EU, Erdogan said. Some six million Turks already live within the EU, about three million of them in Germany, he said. For her part, German Chancellor Merkel pointed that her country is aware that the situation in Syria is imposing a backbreaking-burden on Turkey. She also lauded the Turkish government's care for Syrian refugees. Markel vowed full support for Turkey in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The PKK took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives. It is labeled a terrorist organization by Ankara and much of the international community.