Turkey Urges Un To Act On Refugee Crisis İn Iraq, Syria

UN agencies and non-governmental organizations must coordinate efforts to further help displaced people in Iraq and Syria, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.



"The UN must act urgently to deal with the growing refugee crisis in the region," Cavusoglu told reporters Friday following a UN Security Council meeting on Iraq.



The minister said that Turkey's humanitarian support was ongoing, with three camps now welcoming 35,000 people, and assistance being given to 38,000 refugees.



"Only yesterday [Thursday], Turkey welcomed 10,000 displaced people fleeing ISIL," Cavusoglu said, adding that Turkey would continue to pursue an open-door policy.



"We cannot close the door on people fleeing from the oppressive Syrian regime or the pressure and attacks of other groups," he said.   



Currently, there are around 1,2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. 



"This number will keep increasing unless stability is restored in Iraq and Syria," Cavusoglu said.



Around 45,000 Syrian Kurds fleeing a large-scale ISIL attack on the border region entered Turkey's southeastern Sanliurfa and Gaziantep provinces on Friday.



"After Turkey opened the border gates, 45,000 Syrian Kurds entered through eight checkpoints from Akcakale to Mursitpinar, just across [the border] from Kobani. We accommodated them in the newly-built tents near the border," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters Saturday.



He added: "In no other place in the world, no country, regardless of how good their economic conditions are, could accommodate some 45,000 refugees at one time. This shows the strength and good intentions of Turkey."



Turkey opened the frontier to cope with a rush of Kurdish civilians fearing an attack on the Syrian border town of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani in Kurdish.



www.aa.com.tr/en - New York