President Erdoğan: The safe zone formula is the most practical solution for Syrian refugees to return home
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted a dinner at Çırağan Palace for the visiting ministers and delegation heads attending the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Budapest Process.
Delivering a speech at the dinner, President Erdoğan underlined that the international community is faced with a migration crisis of a magnitude rarely seen in history, and noted: “Today, there are nearly 260 million migrants, more than 68 million displaced persons and over 25 million refugees in the world. This number increases each passing day due to such reasons as famine, draught, civil wars, terror attacks and political uncertainties besides economic factors.”
“IT IS DESPAIR THAT HAS TURNED THE MEDITERRANEAN INTO A GRAVEYARD FOR REFUGEES”
“It is despair, not a quest for adventure, that has turned the Mediterranean, where over 18 thousand people have lost their lives in the past 6 years, into a graveyard for refugees,” said President Erdoğan, noting that there is a great tragedy behind each life that has faded away in the infernal heat of the Sahara.
Underscoring that migrants will keep turning to new routes as rights violations and conflicts go on and the chasm between the poor and the rich widens, President Erdoğan added: “It is a must for the international community to explore avenues to end the ongoing conflicts, first and foremost in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. In today’s world, no country has the luxury of seeing those problems through the lenses of geographical closeness or remoteness.”
“WE HAVE WELCOMED ALL WITH OPEN ARMS REGARDLESS OF ETHNICITY OR RELIGION”
“We have not forced anyone who has come from Syria, where conflicts have been continuing since 2011, and has taken shelter in Turkey to return home,” the President said, adding: “We have not abandoned the innocent, who have turned to us, to the mercy of such murderous organizations as the DAESH and the PKK or the regime, which commits state terror against its own citizens. We have welcomed all with open arms regardless of ethnicity, language or religion, have been a protective shelter for them.”
Further stressing that the safe zone formula, which he said he had brought forward when the refugee crisis had first erupted, is the most practical solution for Syrian refugees to return home, President Erdoğan noted: “In order for that formula to be feasible, the safe zone should be controlled by Turkey, with other countries supplying logistical support. We’ll soon implement that formula on the ground. We have made the necessary preparations along our border line and decided on our plans and strategies. We also thoroughly discussed this issue with Mr. Putin and Mr. Rouhani in Sochi last week. I believe that our European friends will provide the necessary support to our country with regard to the creation of the safe zone, too.”
