June 20, 2018•Update: June 20, 2018
By Merve Aydogan
ANKARA
Turkey on Wednesday marked World Refugee Day by calling for heightened international solidarity to tackle the problems of forcefully displaced people around the globe.
"On the occasion of June 20 World Refugee Day, we hope to increase awareness of the problems that forcefully displaced people face and strengthen international solidarity to resolve those problems," said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.
The statement noted that every year tens of thousands of people across the world are forced to flee their homes and lands due to security and stability issues as well as conflicts and human rights violations.
Referring to Turkey hosting nearly 3.6 million Syrian refugees, the statement said: "Our country, which in the past was the source and transit position on refugee and migration movements, has recently become a destination country with its developing economy. Hence, Turkey today is the country that hosts the most refugees in the world."
It added that the refugee issue could be better managed through international cooperation and that Turkey's efforts to enhance the situation of refugees in the country has been praised by the international community.
It also urged countries near crises that lead to refugee flows as well as other relevant parties to show a sincere political will to find sustainable resolutions to issues.
"In that framework, our country actively contributes to work to prepare the Global Compact on Refugees within the body of the UN and is among the leading countries that are directing the process," it added.
Similarly, Turkey’s EU Ministry released a statement for World Refugee Day calling migration the most serious issue of our century, as nearly 65.6 million people were forcefully displaced across the globe due to ongoing war and instability.
On the March 2016 Turkey-EU deal to address the migrant/refugee crisis, the statement said: "Due to this cooperation, deaths in the Aegean Sea have fallen substantially."
It also accused some EU member states of ignoring their international protection obligations and "building walls against asylum rights."
"The system of values which the European Union is built on has faced its most important test with the refugee crisis, and unfortunately many of the EU countries failed to respond to this humanitarian crisis in line with universal human values," it said.
The statement also called on the international community to find comprehensive and more constructive solutions for refugees.
