Turkey didn’t leave innocents to mercy of Syrian regime, says FM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Monday said that Turkey didnt leave innocent civilians to the mercy of the Syrian regime, nor to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or the Daesh terror group.

“Unfortunately, the humanitarian burden of the Syria crisis has been upheaved on Turkey’s shoulders. Pledges should be fulfilled,” he added.

In March 2016, the EU and Turkey reached an agreement to stop irregular migration through the Aegean Sea, and improve the conditions of more than 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The EU had pledged €6 billion ($7.44 billion) in funding for the refugees, and promised to mobilize the second €3 billion ($3.72 billion) tranche by the end of 2018.

Turkey is home to nearly three million Syrian people according to the Turkey’s Directorate General of Migration Management.

This number accounts for around 45 percent of all Syrian refugees in the region, according to the UN.