22 April 2016•Update: 22 April 2016
WASHINGTON
The “global indifference” to the plight of refugees has not changed despite the harrowing images of toddler Alan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has written in a Canadian newspaper.
In an article in The Globe and Mail, he criticized this “sad - but brutal - comment on our collective humanity.”
Writing ahead of a UN World Humanitarian Summit to be held in Istanbul next month, Cavusoglu said the “power of images and social media, so effective for celebrity purposes, seems to have fallen flat on its face in mobilizing assistance to those less fortunate.
“Indeed, since Alan’s death, countless more innocents - men, women and children - have died completely preventable deaths.”
Images of three-year-old Alan’s body lying on a beach in western Turkey in September last year caused worldwide shock. His family, who had been trying to reach relatives in Canada, were among more than a million refugees who set out for Europe last year in the world's largest movement of refugees since World War II. Thousands perished in the Aegean and Mediterrenean seas as they made the attempt.
In the article, which appeared Thursday, Cavusoglu said there could be “no excuse” for the world turning a blind eye to the humanitarian crises unwinding around the globe.
As well as the humanitarian tragedy caused by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, where a “mass murderer has, with outside help, targeted his own people indiscriminately and with impunity”, Cavusoglu said 125 million people currently needed humanitarian assistance and 60 million were displaced.
He said that these numbers reflected the world’s “inability and unwillingness to tackle them”.
Turkey is leading the way by setting an example and galvanizing the international community, he said.
More than three million refugees are hosted by Turkey - the largest refugee population in the world - for which the country has incurred a financial cost it “has had to assume largely on its own.”
Cavusoglu said Turkey’s humanitarian assistance did not stop at its own backyard but extended to trouble-spots such as Haiti, Somalia and Indonesia.
“Our humanitarian efforts seek not only to relieve the symptoms, but also treat the disease,” he said.
He added: “There are simply to many lives at stake and inaction is not an option.”
Calling on world leaders to attend the May 23 to 24 summit in Istanbul, Cavusoglu recalled the “overwhelming grief” that affected him on seeing the pictures of Alan’s body.
“I would like to believe that we have learned something from that photograph and that we do not need more images like it to compel us into action,” he said.
“We are all responsible for what happens next to those vulnerable people who are looking to us for help. Istanbul is an opportunity to step up and shoulder that responsibility.”
