Turkish PM thanks NATO for counter-terror support

LONDON

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu thanked NATO for its position on the terror attacks that have struck Turkey in recent months.

Speaking in Brussels following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Davutoglu called for solidarity between the members of the military alliance.

“There is a great risk and threat from [Turkey’s] southern border," he said on Monday evening. "We need solidarity between the members of our alliance.”

NATO has begun operations in the Aegean Sea, supported by member states including Britain, aimed at tackling irregular migration across the dangerous waters from Turkey to Greece.

Davutoglu, who held his meeting with Stoltenberg while EU leaders were holding talks following Monday’s EU-Turkey summit, called for all parties to remember the humanitarian impact of the Syrian conflict.

He said: “More than 5 million refugees are asylum seekers. These innocent people are trying to build their future lives. These people did not come to disturb us. They escaped a cruel regime, cruel terror organizations and Russia’s cruel airstrikes. These people are like us.”

“The responsibility is on our shoulders not just as Europe’s leaders, but as people just like the persecuted individuals and refugees of Syria.”