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Turkey fears fresh influx of Syrian refugees

Turkish Foreign Ministry has urged the international community to act to stop Daesh and the Assad regime before it results in another refugee influx

03.07.2015 - Update : 03.07.2015
Turkey fears fresh influx of Syrian refugees

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Ministry has urged the international community to act to stop Daesh and the Bashar al-Assad regime before it may result in another huge influx of Syrian refugees into Turkey.

Daesh is currently pushing its forces into the Syrian town of Mare and Azaz regions of Syria's Aleppo governorate.

“In this region, there are at least four million people. So, it is important that the Syrian regime and Daesh should be stopped and Syrian people should not be pushed towards the Turkish border,” Tanju Bilgic, ministry spokesman, said at a press briefing in Ankara on Friday.

He added that Turkey was worried about the influx of refugees. “Recently, this concern has been heightened. Following this influx, the burden on Turkey’s shoulder would increase. We call on the international community to act,” he said.

Turkey is already hosting around two million Syrian refugees at a cost of an estimated $2.6 billion.

The spokesman added that Ankara was in talks with the U.S. to create a no fly zone and a restricted area within Syria territory where people displaced by the war could find refuge.

Bilgic also criticized the pro-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) for its alleged attempts to change the demography in certain parts of Syria.

“Turkey will not accept the party’s demographic operations and its creation of de facto situations. In fact, our concerns are very well known by the PYD,” he said.

Turkey designates PYD as a terror organization. The Syrian Kurdish group recently captured the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad that fuelled concerns that the group is aiming to found an independent Kurdish state or a fully autonomous region in the area. The People’s Defense Units (YPG), the PYD's military wing, captured the border city on June 15 with the help of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on Daesh targets.

About media reports that Turkey may intervene directly in Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu clarified in a televised interview Thursday that Ankara would never take a step that would put the entire country at risk and allow the formation of "threatening structures" on Turkish borders.

Davutoglu added that while his government would not panic and put Turkey into a war, it would also not remain unresponsive.

 

 Turkey supports China’s territorial integrity

Bilgic also highlighted bilateral ties between Ankara and Beijing. “Turkey pays huge importance to China’s territorial integrity, welfare and stability,” he said.

He added that the Turkish people were closely watching the plight of the Uighur Muslim community in China. “It is normal that we are sensitive on this issue,” he said, recalling that Ankara had already conveyed its concerns for Uighur community to the concerned Chinese officials.

Anti-China protests have swept across Turkey over the plight of the Uighur Muslim community in the communist nation. Many crowds continue to gather at public places in Turkey, urging China to stop what they call discrimination against its Muslim population.

In mid-June, China reportedly banned Muslims from fasting in parts of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. That claim followed allegations last year that Beijing had issued warnings to employees and students not to fast during the holy month of Ramadan. 

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