Erdoğan: 250 Thousand Refugees Heading to Turkey

Click to read the article in Turkish

President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused the western countries of backing "those who want to put streets of İstanbul into chaos."

"Taking measures against terrorism in the responsibility of the state. In this regard, acting in a principled is as important as the struggle itself. Today, the biggest dilemma the western democracy is facing is double standards," Erdoğan told a security symposium in the capital Ankara.

While the western countries support similar protests in İstanbul, they "show no mercy to anyone when similar protests occur in Paris, London, Berlin or New York," Erdoğan asserted.

"These are the good days for them. Much worse disasters are waiting for them," Erdoğan said, adding that "the drug barons who threaten security work with terrorist groups in Turkey."

Western countries are also "unprincipled" in terms of refugees, Erdoğan said, asking why the European countries do not accept refugees while Turkey hosts over five million of them.

"200 to 250 thousand refugees are currently heading to our border," Erdoğan stated, referring to the Syrian government's recent offensive in the northwestern Idlib province.

It is not easy to hold off such a large amount of people, the President told the symposium. (DB/VK)