Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey has already spent more than $600 million in taking care of Syrian refugees that have taken shelter in the country, vowing that Ankara's "open-door" policy will continue Today`s Zaman reported.
Erdogan, speaking to a group of journalists on a plane en route to Ankara from Bratislava, also said aid to the Syrian opposition is growing and that wealthy Gulf nations are taking the lead in assisting the opposition.
Turkey, a staunch opponent of the Syrian regime, has opened its doors to Syrians fleeing violence. More than 177,000 Syrians are currently accommodated in camps in southern Turkey, according to the latest data released by the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD). In excess of 250,000 Syrians have entered Turkey since the start of violence in the country 22 months ago, AFAD said, meaning that about 70,000 Syrians subsequently returned home.
Four million Syrians inside the country need food, shelter and other aid in the midst of a freezing winter, and more than 700,000 more are estimated to have fled to nearby countries.
Erdogan said Turkey has led diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the 22-month crisis in Syria in rounds of diplomacy with international organizations such as the UN, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and countries including China and Russia.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in all, according to a UN estimate, since the conflict began as a peaceful movement for democratic reform and escalated into an armed rebellion after President Bashar al-Assad tried to crush the unrest by force.
Diplomacy to halt the war has been stymied by a deadlock in the UN Security Council between Western powers, who want Assad to quit as part of a democratic transition, and Russia, a close Assad ally that rejects outside interference in Syria.
Erdogan reiterated his position on the future of Assad and said Syria's embattled president is bound to leave. "He is not there to stay," Erdogan stressed. He said Syria's opposition fighters are doing everything in their power to unseat the regime and that the contributions and aid they receive after the Doha meeting will grow.
The Turkish prime minister noted that Turkey's humanitarian aid to Syria is under way and that Ankara's "open-door" policy will continue unhindered.
'Al-Khatib's call for dialogue misinterpreted'
Also speaking about calls by Syrian opposition leader Mouaz al-Khatib for the Syrian regime to engage in dialogue to end the violence, Erdogan said the opposition leader's remarks were misinterpreted. He added that al-Khatib wanted to say that the opposition would hold talks with a government that does not include Assad. He categorically rejected the claim that al-Khatib accepts the idea of talking to Assad but said talks with "remnants of his regime" were possible.
He said al-Khatib's invitation to the Syrian regime is part of a peace process put forward after Geneva meeting last year.
After 22 months and more than 60,000 dead, Syria's crisis appears to have reached a stalemate, with neither side making significant battlefield gains likely to bring about a military victory any time soon.
The US and other world powers have pushed for a negotiated solution -- a bid that appeared to get a boost this week when the head of the opposition's National Alliance said he would be willing to negotiate with certain figures from the Assad regime "who don't have blood on their hands."
Khatib first suggested the possibility of dialogue last week in a post on his Facebook page, sparking a wave of criticism from activists and members of his own group who say the regime has killed too many people to play a role in the conflict's solution. Many accused Khatib of acting unilaterally, and he clarified in a subsequent post that he was expressing his personal views.
He explained his position further on Monday, preconditioning the talks on Assad's departure and saying they could spare Syrians more suffering.
He also suggested that there are regime officials the opposition would agree to meet with, mentioning by name one of Syria's two vice presidents, Farouk al-Sharaa. In December, al-Sharaa was quoted as acknowledging that the army could not defeat the rebels and calling for a negotiated settlement.
Speaking about the presence of Kurdish militants linked to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on the Turkish border in Syria, Erdogan noted that the group, known as the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), is having a difficult time as they are confronted in the battlefield by opposition forces. "The PYD is in trouble especially in Qamishli, Hasaka region. The opposition forces are doing a good job," he said.
Erdogan was referring to months of fighting between Syria's opposition fighters and the PYD in Ras al-Ain and other border towns that left dozens of people killed, further weakening the presence of the PYD in the region. The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has accused the government of organizing clashes in Ras al-Ain in Hasaka, saying the government supports opposition fighters by providing arms and helping them to cross the border in order to attack PYD in the Syrian town.