NEW YORK
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday met with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres in New York, where the top Turkish diplomat is set to participate in a Security Council meeting on Syrian refugees.
Turkish sources close to the meeting said Guterres had thanked Davutoglu for Turkey's efforts to improve conditions for Syrian refugees staying at camps in the country's south.
Thursday meeting was called by Security Council chairman, France, and it is set to bring foreign ministers of the council members plus Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Davutoglu is expected to brief the meeting on the situation of the Syrian refugees in Turkey and convey Turkey's views over setting up a security zone inside Syria in case the number of refugees in Turkey exceeded what the country says "the psychological threshold of 100,000."
The meeting may also discuss enforcing a no-flight zone in Syria.
Writing by Mert Bezgin
Turkish FM urges UN for greater engagement in solving Syrian crisis
Ahmet Davutoglu has called the United Nations to take a more active stance in order to end the bloodshed in Syria.
"The UN is facing a serious test. This test is about whether the UN can represent the good conscience of the international community and act in accordance with it or not. In other words, whether it can translate humanity into practice or not. So far, the track record has not been promising," Davutoglu told his counterparts in a Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday over Syrian refugees.
Davutoglu proposed a series of urgent measures over the Syrian crisis, adding that greater number of refugees arrived each day in the neighboring countries.
"A visit by the Security Council to the camps in the neighboring countries should be organized to see the impact and to have the first hand information about the situation," he said.
Davutoglu said the focus should be on solving the issue of internally displaced persons within the borders of Syria, adding that if the Syrians would have to continue to run for safety despite such steps, necessary measures should be taken to absorb them internationally.
Highlighting the emergency of the Syrian issue, Davutoglu recalled UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon remarks during a visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina where the UN chief had said, "we should take lessons from Srebrenica."
"We open our doors to every Syrian who runs for safety, regardless of his or her religion, sect or ethnicity. We embrace every Syrian," Davutoglu said, adding that the number of Syrians in Turkey was nearing 100,000 and currently, another 10 thousand were waiting on the Turkish border to enter.
Davutoglu said a joint committee comprising the neighboring countries and the UNHCR could be established to deal with the refugee issue, adding that the committee should be given a mandate by the UN Security Council, and that it could also facilitate the work of the joint special envoy.
It is time for action rather than words
Davutoglu said that the United Nations lost an historic opportunity on Syria and that it was high time for action rather than words.
Speaking to reporters while leaving the UN Security Council in New York, Ahmet Davutoglu stressed that the number of displaced Syrians who entered Turkey was over 80,000.
"The UN needs to speed up efforts for an urgent solution in Syria. It is now time for action rather than words," Davutoglu underlined.
"The UN Security Council for the first time handled extensively the Syrian issue from the perspective of refugees and humanitarian situation," Davutoglu noted.
"At a time when millions of Syrians in Syria and neighboring countries expect a strong humanitarian message from the UN Security Council, the fact that a consensus has not been reached indicates a weakness on the part of the UN. The UN has lost an historic opportunity".
Later, Ahmet Davutoglu attended a reception at New York's Turkish House to mark the August 30 Victory Day before departing from the city for Turkey.
