Turkey cannot bear the burden of Afghan refugees for the European Union: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
You cannot expect Turkey to take responsibility for third countries, said the Turkish president. (To file)
Ankara:
Turkey cannot bail out the EU by welcoming Afghans who worked for Western countries in Afghanistan as the Taliban seize power there, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.
“We have received a request to host local employees of a European Union mission in Afghanistan,” Erdogan said in a government statement to European Council President Charles Michel during a telephone call.
“Member states do not open their doors to even a tiny fraction of the people who have served them and who are in difficulty,” he said in the statement.
“You cannot expect Turkey to take responsibility for third countries,” he said.
The Head of State recalled, the day after similar remarks during a conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that Turkey was already hosting around five million refugees and “cannot bear an additional migratory burden”.
Michel, for his part, confirmed on Twitter that he had discussed the current situation in Afghanistan with Erdogan, calling it a “common challenge for Turkey and the EU”.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday urged all countries, especially European countries, to welcome Afghan refugees.
Erdogan noted on Saturday that the EU had yet to honor a 2016 agreement to stop the flow of migrants to Europe.
He said it was “unrealistic” of the EU to expect Turkey to take in more migrants until the 2016 deal is fully implemented.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
