'Myanmar regime must be held accountable for genocide'

ANKARA

Turkey’s presidential spokesman Wednesday said the Myanmar regime must be held accountable for “committing genocidal crimes against Rohingya Muslims including women, children and the elderly.”

"Myanmar soldiers admit to committing genocidal crimes against Rohingya Muslims including women, children and the elderly," Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter.

Kalin's remarks came shortly after two Myanmar soldiers admitting to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Tuesday that they have perpetrated atrocities against minority Rohingya Muslims in the country's western Rakhine State.

"Those who committed these crimes must be brought to justice and the regime held accountable," Kalin added.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017, pushing the number of persecuted people in Bangladesh above 1.2 million.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar's state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report titled Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience.

As many as 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar's army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down while 113,000 others vandalized, it added.