With the war raging on in Ukraine and causing large numbers of civilians to flee the Russian attacks, Turkey’s interior minister Süleyman Soylu on Monday revealed that 58,000 Ukrainians have taken shelter in the country so far.
Speaking during a live broadcast on TV NET, Soylu said 58,000 Ukrainians had arrived in Turkey since the start of the conflict and his country had never discriminated against refugees based on their country of origin or ethnicity.
He noted that Turkey hosts some 3.75 million Syrian refugees and the government's perspective on the issue of migration was different than that of Europe. Turkey seeks to improve the region's prosperity with cross-border operations in Syria and migration cannot slow down until peace is established in the region, he said.
His comments came as the West is increasingly accused of hypocrisy on the issue of migrants. While Middle Eastern refugees have seen pushback and violence at borders, Ukrainian refugees were welcomed with open arms due to their European identity.
Russia's war against Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has been roundly denounced by the international community and has been met with biting Western and allied sanctions and export controls. The economic fallout has been exacerbated by an exodus of global firms from Russia.
At least 925 civilians have been killed during the war and 1,496 have been injured, according to the United Nations' tally.
The international body warns, however, that the true toll is "considerably higher."
Since the war erupted, Turkey has engaged in busy efforts to evacuate its citizens while also facilitating the evacuation of foreign nationals and personnel of international organizations from Ukraine. Within this scope, Turkey has so far evacuated more than 15,000 of its citizens.
