Turkey Resists Pressure to Take Afghan Refugees, Calls for Global Response
Voice of America
ISTANBUL - Turkey is calling for collective international action to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The call comes as Turkey, already hosting the largest number of refugees globally, warns it cannot take any more.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, addressing a high-level United Nations meeting on Afghanistan Monday, warned that with millions of Afghans displaced and facing a humanitarian crisis, now is the time for collective action.
A humanitarian and security crisis in Afghanistan would have direct implications across the globe. So, we should take the collective action now.
Turkish leaders fear an Afghan exodus through its territory as refugees flee Afghanistan and head for Europe.
FILE - Indian players celebrate after beating Pakistan during T20 World Championship Cricket competition in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sept. 24, 2007. Pakistan's Shadab Khan, second right, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of New Zealand's Michael Bracewell during the fifth T20 international cricket match between Pakistan and New Zealand, in Lahore, Pakistan, April 27, 2024.
FILE - This undated photograph handed out by French military shows Russian mercenaries boarding a helicopter in northern Mali. In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Guinea's foreign minister Morissanda Kouyate shake hands near a portrait of Guinea's President Mamadi Doumbouya in Conakry, Guinea, on June 3, 2024.
FILE - An Iranian woman holds a poster of the late President Ebrahim Raisi during a mourning ceremony for him at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran on May 20, 2024. FILE - The helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi takes off at the Iranian border with Azerbaijan after President Raisi and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev inaugurated dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, Iran, on May 19, 2024.