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Turkish FM: International community's silence kills Syrians

24 January 2013 11:49 (UTC+04:00)
Turkish FM: International community's silence kills Syrians

Turkish foreign minister has criticized lack of an international agreement over how to end the crisis in Syria, saying the international community failed to take a decision even in humanitarian issues, Trend news agency reported referring to Anadolu Agency.

"Syrians are dying not only in bombardments but the silence of the international community is killing them as well," Ahmet Davutoglu told Wednesday at a press conference in Davos, Switzerland, alongside head of UN's World Food Program Ertharin Cousin and Valerie Amos, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

Davutoglu said Turkey's doors will remain open to Syrians fleeing the civil war in the country, adding that 16 refugee camps in Turkey hosted 160,000 Syrians and additional up to 70,000 were staying at homes of their relatives or living in houses they had rented.

"We are treating them as we treat our own citizens. We don't discriminate," Davutoglu said, adding that Turkey had extended humanitarian aid worth of $500 million when contributions by the UN and all other countries were $29 million and $4.5 million, respectively.

"And here is an interesting statistical figure: 2,169 babies were born in Syrian camps in Turkey and non of them has died," Davutoglu said.

He said Turks had raised $10 million in just a week as part of "the Bread&Blanket for Syrians," an international aid drive for internally displaced Syrians.

"We are building a new camp for Syrian refugees with a capacity to house 5,000 people. A camp takes a month to set up but only two or three days to fill," Davutoglu said.

The Turkish foreign minister also urged the UN Security Council to take steps to make sure that Syrians in the country's central parts had access to humanitarian aid.

What started as peaceful pro-democracy protests in Syria in March 2011 have since morphed into a bloody civil war which according to United Nations has killed more than 60,000 people.

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