President Erdoğan: Turkey’s decision to open the gates is in accord with the international law
President and Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at AK Party’s Parliamentary Group Meeting.
“TURKEY’S DECISION TO OPEN THE GATES IS IN ACCORD WITH THE INTERNATIONAL LAW”
The fact that the separatist terrorist organization has started to carry out attacks on the Turkish security forces in other regions inside Syria while the clashes continue in Idlib indicates the great game going on in the background, President Erdoğan said, noting: “This situation evidently shows that terrorists will directly target the lands of our country if we withdraw from Idlib or from other areas which we have rendered safe in Syria. What else do we have to experience so as to see that we will have to wage, by paying a much heavier price, in our own lands the fight which we today shy away from in Syria.”
Noting that the border gates were opened for the refugees seeking to cross into Europe on the night when 36 Turkish soldiers died a martyr’s death, President Erdoğan underlined that Turkey’s decision to open the gates is in accord with the international law.
Pointing out that every European country that closes its borders to refugees and seeks to send them back by beating them or sinking their boats or even by shooting them is violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, President Erdoğan added that the most inhumane scenes regarding the issue are being displayed by Greece.
“OUR GREEK NEIGHBORS MUST KEEP IN MIND THAT ONE DAY THEY THEMSELVES MIGHT NEED MERCY, AS WELL”
Reminding the Greek administration of a photograph which was published in the daily “Hona al-Quds” on January 11, 1942 and which shows the aid extended to the Greeks who escaped Nazi attacks and took shelter in Syria, President Erdoğan continued: “Maybe one of the Greek boys or girls receiving food and cloth in this picture is Mitsotakis’ grandfather or grandmother. Turkey, despite the hardships it was faced with, supported Greece during this era of occupation and privation by sending shiploads of food. During that time, many Greeks came to our country in addition to the Arab regions, and lived in peace and safety till the war ended. Our Greek neighbors, who resort to every method from drowning the refugees in the sea to killing them with bullets in order to keep them from entering their country, must keep in mind that one day they themselves might need mercy, as well.”
President Erdoğan further stressed: “This refugee influx will go on until a new constitution is drafted based on Syria’s political unity and territorial integrity and free elections are held whereby a new administration takes office. If the European countries want to resolve the issue, they should support the political and humanitarian solution Turkey is working to achieve in Syria.”
