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Turkey calls for no-fly zone in northern Syria to secure safety

Xinhua, September 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Turkish Foreign Minister on Friday reiterated Turkey's call for a no-fly zone over northern Syria to maintain security of the areas cleared from the Islamic State (IS) and enable safe return of refugees.

"The United Nations Security Council should take a decision for a no-fly zone," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The minister also stressed requirement for training and equipping local troops to retake territory from IS troops in places such as Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

Stoltenberg underlined that training local troops in fight against IS militants would be critical instead of the alliance having to deploy large military forces.

Later on Friday, Stoltenberg met with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara. The meeting lasted about an hour.

On Thursday evening, he has met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Stoltenberg started his two-day visit to Turkey on Thursday, the fifth since he took on his NATO role in October 2014. Endit