Turkey lashes out at UN demands to open border to Syrian refugees

Turkey’s leaders have lashed out at the UN and others who are pressing the country to open its border to thousands more Syrian refugees, accusing them of failing to shoulder the refugee burden or stop Russian bombings that have triggered the exodus.

Thu, 11 Feb, 2016 - 00:00

In recent days, a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive around the city of Aleppo has sent tens of thousands of people fleeing to the Turkish border.

Turkey has taken in some 3m refugees — including more than 2.6m Syrians — making it the country with the world’s largest refugee population.

Turkey has not, however, allowed the latest wave of refugees in, providing them instead with assistance at displaced persons camps on the Syrian side of the border.

That prompted the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, this week to call on Turkey to admit “all civilians who are fleeing danger and seeking international protection”.

At a news conference with his Dutch counterpart in The Hague, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the UN Security Council and the international community “two-faced” for demanding that Turkey open its borders while not moving “a finger to solve the Syrian crisis” or to stop the Russian bombings.

Mr Davutoglu also said the Syrian and Russian military operations were an attempt to drive out people who do not support the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

By taking in the refugees that have fled Aleppo, he said Turkey would be indirectly contributing to what he called Syria’s “ethnic cleansing”.

“With every refugee that we accept, in a way, we would be contributing to this ethnic cleansing aim,” he said.

“If this is a strategy to change the demography in Syria, then we all have to be vigilant against it.”

In Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the UN had sent $455m (€404m) to Turkey to help with refugees compared to the $10bn that Turkey had spent on the refugees since 2011.

“What does the UN say? ’Open your border to the refugees’. What are you for then? What is your use?” Mr Erdogan asked.

“We have taken 3m Syrians and Iraqis into our home until now. How many did you take?”

Turkey’s Oncupinar border crossing, opposite the Bab al-Salameh gate in Syria, has been closed since Friday, with only ambulances and aid trucks being allowed to cross.