Turkish, French presidents discuss growing refugee crisis

ANKARA

AFP photo

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a phone conversation with his French counterpart, François Hollande, late Sept. 3 to discuss the ongoing refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea amid the latter’s strong criticisms against European leaders for not doing enough to handle the problem. 

The two leaders have emphasized that the international community, particularly the European Union, should do more in dealing with the refugee crisis, as they both referred to how the picture of a three-year old Syrian boy’s lifeless body that washed ashore shocked the world.   

Hollande praised Turkey’s open door policy towards Syrians and Iraqis, and expressed his country will provide more aid to Turkey, while also asking for more cooperation between Turkey and the EU on this matter. The French president also said the failure in finding a political solution to the Syrian question will deepen the refugee crisis. 

Erdoğan repeated that Turkey hosts around 2 million Syrians and Iraqis and expressed his expectation from international community to share the burden. Turkish president also talked about Turkey’s ongoing fight against terror, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).