The co-chair of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) member of Parliament Ahmet Berat Çonkar recently released a statement responding to Amnesty International's report that says the Turkish public is intolerant of refugees in Turkey. He said: "[Amnesty International] will not be able to overshadow the hospitality and greatheartedness of the Turkish public helping and hosting refugees in real terms with such biased and misleading surveys."
Commenting on the Refugees Welcome survey published on May 19, Çonkar said that Turkey has opened its doors to 2.7 million Syrian refugees since 2011 and stressed that Turkey has taken in the highest number of refugees in the world. "It is impossible to realize these enormous efforts without the support of the Turkish public," he said, adding that such a welcoming attitude is a result of Turkish people's empathy and not simply an issue of tolerance.
He also said that Turkey has spent about $10 billion on Syrian refugees, pointing out that the countries claimed to have a higher tolerance have accepted much fewer refugees than Turkey has. According to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 1 million people reached Europe's shores last year attempting to seek security and shelter. But despite the plight of refugees, the EU has failed to adopt a cooperative approach and many EU countries have turned their backs on them.
The UNHRC head Filippo Grandi recently said in a German newspaper interview that Europe has "completely failed" in its response to the global migrant crisis. Çonkar said: "We see the attitude of many European countries in approaching refugees and the treatment that refugees have faced very clearly," emphasizing that the Turkish public's tolerance should be taken as a positive example for others.
