The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi is visiting Turkey to discuss migration and refugee-related subjects in his meetings with Turkish authorities, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
Grandi is expected to visit Turkey's southeastern provinces of Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep, as well as the capital Ankara between Sept. 7-11, a ministry statement said.
"During the meetings with Grandi ... migration and refugee-related subjects, which are at the top of the international agenda, will be discussed in detail," the statement added.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, met with Grandi later Wednesday and discussed migration, highlighting equal sharing of the burden.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu also discussed on Wednesday the latest developments in Afghanistan, migration management, and humanitarian aid to refugees with Grandi.
The two met at the Turkish Interior Ministry's Security and Emergencies Coordination Center in the capital Ankara.
The meeting was also attended by Turkey's Deputy Interior Minister Ismail Çatakli, UNHCR Director, Regional Bureau for Europe Pascale Moreau, Director General of Migration Management Savas Unlu, UNHCR Turkey representative Philippe Leclerc, and Disaster and Emergency Management Authority's (AFAD) Deputy Chairman Hamza Taşdelen.
Following the Taliban's takeover of war-torn Afghanistan, European countries, as well as Turkey, have tightened measures against a new influx of irregular migrants.
Erdoğan also highlighted the importance of international cooperation to prevent a new migration wave from Afghanistan as he discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan, including the migrant crisis, with several world leaders.
Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum-seekers attempting to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
Ankara has made it clear that it will not bear the burden of migration crises experienced as a result of the decisions of third countries.
Turkey hosts more refugees than any country in the world. After the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Turkey adopted an "open-door policy" for people fleeing the conflict, granting them "temporary protection" status.
Afghans are believed to be the second-largest refugee community in Turkey after Syrians. Many of the migrants arriving via Iran are heading for Istanbul to find work or passage to another coastal city from which to embark for Europe.