Turkey calls on world to help with Syrian refugees

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Istanbul - Turkey has called on the international community to help it cope with the flood of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Istanbul on Monday, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said: "Within the last week, more than 150 000 mainly Kurdish refugees took shelter in Turkey.

“International organisations did not help properly. So we spent $4 billion, the UN has spent $160 million on aid [in Syria] and other countries in total spent $244 million on aid. This is nothing."

Turkey has taken in more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees since the war began in 2011. Turkey has spent more than $3.5 billion on helping Syrians since civil war broke out in 2011. – SAnews.gov.za-Anadolu Agency