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President Erdoğan: It is of critical importance at global scale to immediately ensure security and stability in Afghanistan

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed via videoconference the G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Meeting on Afghanistan.

“WE ARE FACED WITH A NEW POLITICAL AND GEOPOLITICAL REALITY IN AFGHANISTAN”

President Erdoğan said: “I see the G20 as the fundamental cooperation platform against the challenges our world is facing. The developments taking place in Afghanistan have economic and financial repercussions as well as political and humanitarian ones. I welcome the addressing of the issue within the scope of the G20 and thank Italy, the G20 term president, for giving us the opportunity to exchange our views. We are faced with a new political and geopolitical reality in Afghanistan. It is of critical importance at not only regional level but also at global scale to immediately ensure security and stability in the country. By keeping the channels of dialogue open and through strategic patience and a gradual approach, we should steer the Taliban towards forming an inclusive administration.”

“WE MUST DISPLAY STRONG SOLIDARITY WITH THE AFGHAN PEOPLE”

“Besides the political ambiguity, the Afghan people is today suffering from the destructive consequences of terror, conflicts and more than 40 years of instability,” President Erdoğan underscored, and added: “During such a period, the international community cannot afford to turn its back on the Afghan people and leave the country to its own fate. Regardless of the political process, we must display strong solidarity with the Afghan people due to the humanitarian crisis increasingly deepening in the country. The Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) has lately delivered a 33-ton food aid. Also, we are working on an additional and comprehensive humanitarian aid package. We will continue to fulfill our responsibilities of brotherhood towards the Afghan people in their difficult days.”

“TURKEY CANNOT SHOULDER A NEW BURDEN OF MIGRATION FROM AFGHANISTAN”

President Erdoğan went on to say: “As can be seen from the terror attack conducted by the DAESH at Kabul airport on August 26 as well as from the acts that have recently taken place in Kabul and some other provinces, terror continues to pose a threat. As you know, the developments in Afghanistan increases the risk of migration flow as well. Our country, which is currently hosting nearly 5 million foreigners, 3.6 million of whom have come from Syria, cannot shoulder a new burden of migration from Afghanistan. It is inevitable for the European countries to get affected by a migration pressure which Turkey will face on its southern and eastern borders. Therefore, I think it is essential that the G20 keeps the issues of migration and forced displacement on its agenda, bearing in mind their repercussions on the global economy. I propose that a working group be formed within the G20 to bring forward a systematic perspective into this global issue. As Turkey we are willing to assume the chairmanship of this group. I believe that we will have big opportunities so as to take concrete steps on this issue during Indonesia’s term presidency.”

The President further noted: “The number of the Afghan students who study on scholarship in Turkey is currently 1,100. The total number of the Afghan students whom we have granted scholarship has exceeded 10 thousand. The interim government, as Prime Minister Draghi of Italy stated in his opening speech, has not met the expectations yet. We have not seen the necessary inclusivity in terms of humanitarian aids, security, preventing Afghanistan from becoming a base to terrorist organizations, or averting extremism.”

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