Turkey left alone to fight Daesh, Erdogan says

ISTANBUL

Turkey has been left alone to combat Daesh, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday.

The president said Turkey had inflicted the heaviest price on the terror group.

“They left us alone in fighting against this organization that hurt us with both suicide bombers and attacks in Kilis,” he told the audience at a film awards ceremony in Istanbul. The border province of Kilis has been the target of Daesh rocket attacks since mid-January, resulting in 21 deaths and more than 70 people injured.

He added: “None of those who said they are fighting against the Daesh terrorist organization in Syria have either made them suffer the losses or pay the price as Turkey has done.”

Referring to bomb attacks in Turkey by Daesh and the terrorist organization PKK, Erdogan criticized the world’s apparent indifference to terrorism in Turkey.

“The difference between the reactions to the bombs that exploded in Ankara and Istanbul and acts carried out in Paris and Brussels is nothing more than the incarnation of injustice,” he said.

He also condemned the international community’s “mercilessness” approach to the refugee problem and criticized the “unfair” structure of the UN Security Council, which is dominated by permanent members France, the U.K., Russia, China and the U.S.

“Is there justice?” he asked. “No. Five permanent members, determining the fate of the world. Injustice is completely reinforced there.”

He reiterated his call for the council to be reformed to include up to 20 members representing every continent. “They do not accept,” he said.

Erdogan also repeated his condemnation of the absence of a Muslim presence among the council’s permanent members. “There is not a Muslim country there, in this world where there are 1.7 billion Muslims,” he said.