Erdoğan: Syria's oil revenues should be used to fund Turkey's 'safe zone' project

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on the world powers to extract the oil from the Syrian oil wells together and use the funds to finance projects envisaging the establishment of refugee towns in a planned “safe zone.”

“Let's together extract the oil from those oil wells and then by executing these projects in that terror region, let's settle these people who are currently refugees in their houses and schools that we build. But they are not favoring [this plan]. Because, they need oil more,” Erdoğan told the Global Forum on Refugees in Geneva on Dec. 17, as he took a thinly veiled swipe at the United States.

The U.S. and the People's Protection Units (YPG) are currently the the main beneficiaries of the oil production in Syria. The U.S. announced a withdrawal of its forces from northern Syria in October, but has since said it would retain around 500 troops to guard oil facilities, along with YPG forces.

The U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria paved the way for a Turkish military offensive against the YPG, which Ankara considers as a terrorist organization. Turkey's operation focuses on the area between the towns of Ras al-Ain and Tel Abyad. Turkey says it aims to establish a “safe zone” in northeastern Syria once it completely clears the region of the YPG. It says its military operation into Syrian territory draws from its goals of establishing this buffer zone along its borders.

Erdoğan said on Dec. 17 that at least 1 million of the 3.7 million Syrians in Turkey could be resettled in the planned “safe zone” if world powers helped the Turkish authorities.

"I believe that this number will reach one million in the first phase if we can realize the project I brought forward in the U.N. General Assembly," he said. Addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September, Erdoğan had said that if negotiations to set up a “safe zone” in Syria are concluded to Ankara’s satisfaction, and its width can be extended as far as Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, up to 3 million more Syrians could be resettled in the zone.

Erdoğan also on Dec. 17 criticized the European Union, saying that the union had so far disbursed only €2 billion despite its pledge of €6 billion to Turkey to help Syrian refugees.

“The figure that we have spent from our budget [for the Syrian refugees] has exceeded $40 billion. The EU has pledged to give us €3+3 billion [in two installments]. As of now, the money that came from the EU to the NGOs has only reached €2 billion,” Erdoğan said.