Root causes of Migration have to be Tackled

Turkey’s foreign minister said Monday in order to tackle the root causes of irregular migration the source countries have to be helped, instead of being derailed.

There are around 70 million displaced persons in the world. This number is more than the displaced persons during the WW II.

Turkey is a transit country for irregular migration and Ankara spent $37 billion from the state budget. And what they received from the international community is less than $1 billion in addition to what we got from the EU.

Turkey hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world.

Syria has been locked in a vicious proxy war since early 2011, when the Assad government cracked down on so-called pro-democracy protests.

On Turkey’s procurement of Russian S-400 air defense system, Cavusoglu noted that Slovakia and Greece also bought S-300 from Russia.

He also noted that before, the Netherlands, Germany and the USA pulled out their patriot missile batteries from Turkish borders, when Ankara needed them the most.

Cavusoglu said Turkey has been taking steps to boost ties with different regions of the world, and added that policies on Africa, Latin America or Asia are not “alternatives” to Western policies but “rather complimentary”.

Turkey buys 50% of its gas from Russia. But Germany buys 100% of its gas from Russia. Ankara bought S-400 from Russia but when it comes to Crimea, we disagree. When it comes to territorial integrity of Moldova and Georgia, we disagree.”

Cavusoglu also met Slovenia’s President Borut Pahor, Prime Minister Marjan and his counterpart Miro Cerar on the sidelines of the forum.

At our meeting w/FM @ MiroCerar of Slovenia, we discussed bilateral relations and regional developments. We will further increase our economic relations and mutual investments.

Anadolu Agency / ABC Flash Point News 2019.