Following is the message by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on World Refugee Day:
People in different regions of the world, particularly in the geography including our country, are forced to migration due to several reasons such as terror, conflicts, civil wars, hunger and famine. Currently, the number of displaced people has neared 110 million. While 35.3 million of these people lead their lives as refugees outside their places of birth, 62.5 million others have had to relocate within their own countries.
Our stance regarding the refugee issue and irregular migration, which present a global challenge, is to protect human’s life and honor along with our country’s security. Our nation, which had for centuries embraced without any distinction those fleeing oppression, has once again displaced the same conscientious stance in the face of the crises in our region from Syria to Ukraine. Türkiye, which has always fulfilled its humanitarian and neighborhood responsibilities, advocates the safe, voluntary and honorable return of asylum seekers to their homelands, and implements projects to this end.
We reject Islamophobia and xenophobia, neo-Nazi ideology and hate speech, which have spread to other communities just like a poison ivy after having taken root in western countries. We see these pathological trends, which do not consider anyone other than those from their own race, culture and faith to be a human being, as a threat to humanitarian values and the common future of humanity.
The arrogant mentality, whose roots date as far back as to colonialism, plays a big role in the fact the Mediterranean, which had served as a cradle of civilization throughout history, has turned into a big graveyard of refugees in recent years. The humanitarian tragedy that took place in plain view last week in the Aegean Sea in which hundreds of innocent people, most of them children, lost their lives has become the most recent and most shameful example of this.
It is now imperative for the international community, especially those countries that lecture anyone other than themselves on human rights and democracy, to assume responsibility. The refugee issue can be solved only if the circumstances, which lead to migration and forced displacement, are eliminated at their source. The successful implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees, which was adopted in December of 2018 with Türkiye’s active contributions, is of great importance in this regard. We call on all the relevant parties to increase their efforts for both the implementation of the Compact and the fulfilment of the commitments.
With these evaluations and expectations, I hope that the World Refugee Day may help raise global awareness, prevent further tragedies and solve the problems of refugees who struggle to hold onto life in different parts of the world.
https://www.tccb.gov.tr/en/speeches-statements/558/147560/world-refugee-day-message