by Our Foreign Desk

SYRIAN rebels yesterday welcomed Turkey’s plan to establish a “safe zone” across its border as a haven for their militias, as Nato members met in Brussels.

Turkey called the meeting of the 28 Nato member states after Islamic State (Isis) militants attacked a border outpost last week, killing one soldier.

The incident followed the killing of 32 members of the Socialist Youth Associations Federation in the southern city of Suruc by a suspected Isis suicide bomber.

“We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks against Turkey, and express our condolences to the Turkish government and the families” of victims, Nato ambassadors said in a statement after the meeting.

“Terrorism poses a direct threat to the security of Nato countries and to international stability and prosperity,” the Nato statement said. “It is a global threat that knows no border, nationality or religion — a challenge that the international community must fight and tackle together.”

But one official said that members expressed concern over Turkey’s use of excessive force against Kurdish separatists and left-wing groups.

Ankara has used last week’s Isis attacks on its soil as a pretext to crack down on political opposition, including the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Nato nations call a terrorist organisation.

PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan has been imprisoned awaiting execution since he was seized by the CIA and Turkish security forces in Kenya in 1999.

Besir Atalay, a spokesman for Mr Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development party, said that peace talks with Mr Ocalan were “paused.”

Meanwhile, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz suggested that the PKK were responsible for an explosion and fire that cut a gas pipeline between Iran and Turkey on Monday night.

In Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish and US officials were discussing the creation of a safe zone near Turkey’s border with Syria, which would be cleared of Isis group presence and turned into a secure area for Syrian refugees to return.

Two Syrian anti-government factions, the Syrian National Coalition and Ahrar al-Sham welcomed the move as protecting their people from both the Syrian army and Isis.