Turkish PM proposes international mechanism to handle Syrian refugee crisis

ANKARA

AA Photo

Turkey has drawn up a document to establish a joint mechanism to handle the worsening Syrian refugee crisis affecting Europe and Turkey, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said, adding the proposal had been written in letters and sent to world leaders. 

“A text is prepared for a proposal of the mechanism,” Davutoğlu told reporters on Sept. 24. The prime minister also stressed the need for a three-step strategy to find a solution to the problem.

He sent letters including the proposals for an action plan to world leaders and heads of international organizations, the prime minister said, adding they already received some positive feedback. 

In his letters to the U.S. and the EU, he brought up some additional proposals on the issue, Davutoğlu stated. “We proposed establishing a tripartite mechanism between Turkey, the EU and the U.S., a working group examining the difficulties of refugees while they try to reach Europe,” he said.

The first phase of the strategy involved steps to prevent an influx of more refugees, he said, noting the root causes should be removed through political and diplomatic ways, including a solution to the Syrian crisis, eliminating political disagreements in Iraq and the struggle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Davutoğlu reiterated a longstanding demand by Turkey to declare safe havens in northern Syria. “There is no solution for the refugee crisis unless secure regions are established for Syrian people… Fleeing Syrians should be contained in this safe zone. Unfortunately our interlocutors have ignored Turkey’s concerns on this issue for three years,” he stated.

The prime minister recalled that the U.N. has not taken any steps with the common stance of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

The third phase would be arrangements for repatriation of refugees, he said. Otherwise, some 4-5 million of Syrians would spend decades without the right of citizenship and a lack of fundamental rights, as was seen with Palestinian refugees in 1948, Davutoğlu added.