Mustafa Çağlayan
October 01, 2015•Update: October 01, 2015
NEW YORK
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday that short-term security interests should not block efforts to address the migrant and refugee crisis.
"Solution to migration can only be attained if the root causes such as wars and conflicts, human rights violations, and economic deprivation in many of the origin countries are prevented," Davutoglu said at a migration summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The region is facing its biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War, with thousands of asylum seekers from Middle Eastern and African countries trying to flee war and persecution.
The majority of the refugees are Syrians fleeing a four-and-a-half year civil war that has claimed more than 250,000 lives and made the country the world's single-largest source of refugees and displaced people.
Hosting more than 2 million Syrians and 200,000 Iraqis, Turkey now shelters the largest number of refugees in the world, according to the UN refugee agency.
"In some Turkish cities on the border, now Syrians are more than Turks. In Kilis, for example, the percentage of Syrians are 54 percent and Turks became minority," Davutoglu said. "I am really proud of my people. Until now there was no single anti-Syrian or anti-migrant demonstration or protest in Turkey.”
He urged the international community, however, to do more to share the burden faced by Syria's neighbors.
"It is neither possible nor just to expect from Turkey or the neighboring countries to face the migratory pressures, risks and threats alone," he said.
The UN agency says 1 million Syrian refugees are hosted by Lebanon, 629,000 by Jordan and 250,000 by Iraq.
Earlier this month, "Global awareness of the tragedies of irregular migrants in the Mediterranean basin with specific emphasis on Syrian asylum seekers" was added to the agenda of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly upon Turkey's request.
