World should either join Turkey or accept refugees – Erdogan
In an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal , Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that in the absence of an alternative plan to deal with the refugee crisis in the Middle East, the international community should either join Turkey's efforts to end the humanitarian crisis and address the violence and instability that are the root causes of irregular migration in the region or begin admitting refugees.
Following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey spent $40 billion as it took in 3.6 million Syrian refugees––more than any other country––and "shouldered the burden of hosting millions of war victims with very little help from the international community".
He added that Turkey's Operation Peace Spring was launched along the same lines to clear northern Syria of terrorist elements that are "preventing Syrian refugees, including some 300,000 Kurds, from returning home".
Erdogan further said that the Turkish state has no argument with any ethnic or religious group but stressed that Ankara's mission is simultaneously to combat the terrorist organisation known as the PKK, along with its Syrian affiliates YPG, and Daesh.
He emphasised on Ankara's objection to "equation of the PKK with the Syrian Kurds" as well as the "equation of ISIS [Daesh], which has murdered thousands of innocent people, with Islam."
Erdogan also expressed his resolve to "ensure that no ISIS [Daesh] fighters leave northeastern Syria."
He also slammed European and Arab League countries and asked: "Since they are so unhappy with Turkey’s efforts to reunite Syrian refugees with their ancestral lands, how many war victims have they admitted? How much did they contribute to efforts to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria? Which political initiatives did they support to stop the civil war?"
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