Erdogan: Turkey cannot bear the burden of additional migration from Syria and Afghanistan

Turkish President Rajap Tayyip Erdogan said that his country currently hosts more than 5 million refugees and “cannot bear the additional burden of migration originating from Syria and Afghanistan.”

This came during a dinner with ambassadors on Wednesday evening. Erdogan denied allegations made by the Republican People’s Party, Turkey’s largest opposition party, about the presence of about 1.5 million Afghans in the country.

In this regard, he said: “This is all a lie. The number of registered and unregistered Afghan immigrants in our country is 300,000.”

Erdogan stressed the importance of reducing migration pressure by stabilizing Afghanistan, and stated that in line with that, Turkey would continue a close dialogue with all parties concerned.

Erdogan called on the international community to help Afghanistan and stand in solidarity with it in these difficult times, whoever is ruling, indicating that Turkey will continue to fulfill the requirements of brotherly ties with the Afghan people.
Migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh enter Iran first, from which they sneak into Turkey illegally by vehicles or on foot.