Çavuşolu: More than 13 million Syrians have been forced to leave their country
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Slovak counterpart Ivan Korçuk held a joint press conference, Tuesday, in the Turkish capital (Ankara), to discuss the latest developments in the Syrian file.
Ihsanoglu said: “Syria witnesses a human tragedy, forcing more than 13 million Syrians to leave their country, 3.6 million of them live in Turkey,” as he put it.
He added, “There are nearly 6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Syria, and about 5 million Syrians need shelter.”
Ihsanoglu explained that about 2.5 million Syrian children cannot complete their education or go to school, noting, “We (in Turkey) have nearly a million children of school age, 700,000 of whom were able to enter schools.”
Speaking about the meetings of the Constitutional Committee, the Turkish Foreign Minister affirmed, “The Assad regime rejects a political solution, and this was evident in the meetings of the Constitutional Committee,” pointing out that “the international support group for Syria has slowly started to leave its hand from the Syrian issue.”
He continued: “Thanks to our efforts, the Geneva process is alive today, and we launched the Astana process, and we are working to hold the sixth round of meetings of the Constitutional Committee before the beginning of the month of Ramadan,” he said.
He stressed the need to move towards a political solution in Syria, “as it is the only way to solve this issue,” calling for preserving the integrity of the Syrian territories and its borders and ensuring the voluntary, safe and dignified return of the Syrian people.
On the arrival of humanitarian aid to Syria, Davutoglu noted, “Turkey delivers aid to 9 million Syrians inside his country and in Syria, pointing out that international relief materials enter Syria completely through Turkey.”
He concluded his speech by referring to the “Islamic State” and the Kurdish forces in Syria, saying: “The Islamic State has not been completely eliminated in Syria, and unfortunately, terrorist militias receive support from some of our Western allies, whether in the field or in their countries,” he said.
Source: Agencies
