News in English     | 04.03.2020. 14:24 |

Ambassador Haldun Koç: Migrant crisis cannot be problem for one country alone

FENA Vernera Jakupović

SARAJEVO, March 4 (FENA) - Turkish Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Haldun Koç commented on the latest situation in Idlib and migrant crisis and pointed out that Turkey shares 911 kilometers of land border with Syria and that the situation in Syria has been affecting Turkey for years.

According to him, the Republic of Turkey has made great efforts from the beginning to resolve the crisis, keeping in mind the preservation of the territorial integrity of Syria, but the attacks of the Syrian regime forces have caused a large number of migrations, suffering of civilians and deaths, that is the continuation of the crisis, which is highly undesirable.

Ambassador Koç noted that Turkey hosts four million refugees, three and a half million of whom are Syrian nationals.

Turkish stance is that the best solution is to provide a safe zone in Syria for citizens, and efforts have already been made to do so, the Ambassador points out, but Turkey remained isolated to that end.

Noting that multiple platforms have been negotiated with other guarantor countries in the process, Russia and Iran, Ambassador Koç said the agreed de-escalation zone was in Idlib as a very important populated Syrian province. Turkey had no other goal in creating such zones, nor any aspirations for its neighbors.

“We have no aspirations for our neighbors, we respect the territorial integrity of Syria. Our sole aim was to establish one such zone where people would be able to stay safely and without fear for life within the borders of their country. Unfortunately, despite these arrangements and principles, an air strike on patrols around the security zone on February 27 killed 36 Turkish soldiers. We couldn't help but respond to this action. Turkey gave its position and answer to this and we will continue with our answer, but what is the goal in all of this? The goal is to keep one million to one and a half million Syrian citizens concentrated in this safe zone. The aim is to ensure the security of the Syrian border, but certainly the aim is to secure the borders and security of Turkey. These were and are the goals of all the actions and efforts made by Turkey so far, including this one now,” Ambassador Koç told FENA.  

He also says that Turkey has taken care for four million migrants over the years, and that USD 40 billion has been spent on their care.

“Unfortunately, on this issue, which is very serious and it should not be allowed one country to tackle such issues on its own, I can say that the international community was indifferent and acted as if it was happening somewhere far away. As for us, we had no choice. We could not remain indifferent to instability along the Turkish border, because we do not want instability within the borders, and such insecurity with our immediate neighbors certainly could and can continue to have a major impact on stability and security within Turkey itself. So far, the international community has made a number of promises on this issue that has been going on for years and things that it has declared itself to take on. We expected more support from other countries as well. We expect from all our partners in the fight against the consequences of all these events a concrete attitude, joint action, partnership approach towards this crisis. We expect someone to share this burden with us. If we add another million or more migrants to the existing four million, to which we have spent USD 40 billion, I have to say that it will be extremely difficult to take care of them and accommodate them like we did before,” Ambassador Haldun Koç warns.

Turkey has never expelled any migrant out of its territory, he adds, but has, on the contrary, tried to do everything to protect them.

“We cannot stop those who want to go to another country, but we do not expel them. We can see how Turkey has dealt with this issue for years, and here, just last week, you can witness what is happening at the border crossings, what is the response of the authorities of those other countries. It really has nothing to do with the humanitarian approach,” Ambassador Koç said.

He emphasizes that no country, not even Bosnia and Herzegovina, can act alone in dealing with the migrant crisis, but in this issue, a global approach to the scale and number of 'affected' people requires a partnership approach and effects.

“This can by no means be the problem of one country. One country cannot be left to fight one such problem. If it had not been for the crisis in Syria, there would have been no consequence of either migrants or migrant crises. However, this has happened and we have crises like this. The same is true in BiH. Migrants in BiH are not just a problem for BiH, migrants to the EU are not just an EU problem, migrants in Turkey should not be a problem for Turkey alone. We all need to fight this together,” he said.

When it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Haldun Koç also spoke about its internal political circumstances, stating that Turkey was pleased that a new BiH government had been formed at the state level, because many projects had to be worked on, and that the current blockade in BiH institution is greatly hindering the country's progress.

“Much damage will be done to Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the blockade of institutions,” says the Ambassador, noting the Turkish stance that BiH's stability is important for a much wider area than just its territory.

“When I spoke about Turkey's stability and how its stability affects its closer and further surroundings, surely the same applies to BiH and its stability which inevitably affects a much wider area than the one that extends to BiH itself, so that it is extremely important for us that BiH is stable and that there are no changes in that sense, but that there is a constant going forward,” the Ambassador emphasizes.

Turkey and the rest of the international community want the blockade to be eliminated and active work of all institutions, especially at the state level, should be done so that everyone works to strengthen BiH and its unity, security and stability, and certainly the prosperity of its citizens, he concluded.

“The rule of law is the rule of law, the decisions of the Constitutional Court are not a matter of debate. We need to go further and work to make this country better and the way its citizens deserve,” Turkish Ambassador to BiH Haldun Koç concluded in an interview with FENA.

(FENA) A. B.

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