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Merkel says ‘horrified’ by Russian bombings in Syria Germany, Turkey vow diplomatic effort to end Aleppo violence
(about 7 hours later)
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey and Germany agreed on Monday on a set of measures to try to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis, including a joint diplomatic initiative aimed at halting attacks against Syria’s largest city. ANKARA, Turkey — As tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing violence massed at Turkey’s border, Turkish and German leaders pledged Monday to redouble diplomatic efforts to end the fighting around the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo and prevent more refugees making their way into Europe.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that she is “not just appalled but horrified” by the suffering caused by bombing in Syria, primarily by Russia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after talks with Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, that she was “not just appalled but horrified” by the suffering caused by the bombing in Syria, primarily by Russia.
Merkel said that Turkey and Germany will push at the United Nations for everyone to keep to a U.N. resolution passed in December that calls on all sides to halt without delay attacks on the civilian population. Merkel said Turkey and Germany would push at the United Nations for all sides to adhere to a U.N. resolution passed in December that calls for an immediate halt to attacks on civilians in Syria.
Merkel was in Ankara for talks on how to reduce the influx of migrants into Europe, mostly via a perilous boat crossing from Turkey to Greece. Turkey’s coast guard said Monday that 24 migrants died after their boat capsized in the Bay of Edremit, while four people were rescued. Merkel was in Ankara for talks on how to reduce the influx of migrants into Europe, mostly via a perilous boat crossing from Turkey to Greece. Turkey’s coast guard said Monday that another 27 migrants had died after their boat capsized in the Bay of Edremit while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.
Merkel is under pressure at home to cut the number of refugee arrivals after nearly 1.1 million people were registered as asylum-seekers in Germany last year. Her visit came after a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive around Aleppo sent up to 35,000 Syrians fleeing toward the border with Turkey in recent days.
Turkey for its part is under pressure from the EU to open its border to up to 35,000 Syrians who have massed along the frontier in the past few days fleeing an onslaught by government forces in the city of Aleppo. The Turkish border crossing of Oncupinar, opposite the Syrian Bab al-Salameh gate, remained closed for a fourth day on Monday as Turkish authorities provided assistance to the Syrians at a displaced persons camp nearby. Turkey has taken in 2.5 million Syrian refugees since the conflict began, and authorities say the country has reached its capacity to absorb refugees. The border crossing remained closed for a fourth day on Monday and aid groups continued to provide assistance to the Syrians massed at a displaced persons camp nearby.
It was not clear if or when Turkey would let the group in. Turkey, already home to 2.5 million Syrian refugees, says it has reached its capacity to absorb refugees but has indicated that it will continue to take refugees in. Syrian army troops meanwhile, recaptured another village north of Aleppo on Monday, bringing troops and allied militiamen to within a few miles (kilometers) of the Turkish border.
“We are worried that opening the gates will lead to an increase in refugees,” said Burak Kacacaoglu, a spokesman for the non-governmental Islamic charity group IHH. “We are concerned about the air strikes which are increasingly targeting civilian areas. This is what causes refugees.” Aleppo “is de facto under siege. We are on the verge of a new human tragedy,” Davutoglu said.
Merkel said: “We have been, in the past few days, not just appalled but horrified by what has been caused in the way of human suffering for tens of thousands of people by bombing — primarily from the Russian side.” “No one should excuse or show tolerance toward the Russian air attacks that amount to ethnic massacres by saying, ‘Turkey takes care of the Syrian refugees anyway,’” Davutoglu said. “No one can expect Turkey to take on the burden on its own.”
Added Merkel: “We have been, in the past few days, not just appalled but horrified by what has been caused in the way of human suffering for tens of thousands of people by bombing — primarily from the Russian side.”
“Under such circumstances, it’s hard for peace talks to take place, and so this situation must be brought to an end quickly,” Merkel said.“Under such circumstances, it’s hard for peace talks to take place, and so this situation must be brought to an end quickly,” Merkel said.
Davutoglu said Aleppo “is de facto under siege. We are on the verge of a new human tragedy.” Hussein Bakri, an official in the interim government set up by the Syrian opposition, said more than 70,000 people had been displaced from Aleppo and urged the international community to “shoulder the responsibility of protecting the Syrian people by stopping the Russian bombing.”
“No one should excuse or show tolerance toward the Russian air attacks that amount to ethnic massacres by saying ‘Turkey takes care of the Syrian refugees anyway,’” Davutoglu said. “No one can expect Turkey to take on the burden on its own.” “If the situation continues like this, it will lead to the displacement of up to 400,000 people from Aleppo province and from Aleppo city,” Bakri said. “It is clear that the Russians are aiming for the encirclement and to lay siege to Aleppo as has happened in other parts of Syria.”
Davutoglu said he and Merkel had agreed that an emergency aid group from the two countries would help supply the Syrian refugees at the border. The EU has urged Turkey to open its border and let in the thousands fleeing the Aleppo onslaught. But Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said after a Cabinet meeting on Monday that Turkey’s priority is to keep the fleeing Syrians within the borders of their country “and provide them with assistance there.”
He added that they would be allowed in to Turkey “when necessary,” without elaborating. Merkel and Davutoglu said Germany and Turkey would work together to provide aid to the refugees at the border.
Merkel said the two leaders also discussed how to combine the work of Turkey’s coast guard with that of the EU’s Frontex border agency. She said they will use an upcoming NATO defense ministers’ meeting to discuss “to what extent NATO can be helpful with the surveillance situation at sea” and support the coast guard’s and Frontex’s work Another top Turkish government official reacted angrily to the EU pressure on Turkey to open its doors to the Syrian refugees, yet seal them for migrants trying to leave Turkey and reach the EU via the water crossing into Greece.
“We will cooperate when it comes to non-Syrians returning home,” she added. Merkel noted that, in January, only 45 percent of those arriving in Greece were Syrians. “On the one hand they say ‘Open your borders, take everyone in,’ and on the other hand they say, ‘Close your border, don’t let anyone through,’” Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said. “Why don’t you take them in?”
Merkel stuck to her insistence that Europe will need to accept “quotas” of refugees arriving by legal channels as part of “burden-sharing,” and that the system needs to be worked out soon. She said that “we can’t expect of Turkey that it stops everything on the one hand, and on the other hand say we’ll talk about the quotas half a year from now.” At the Turkish border gate of Oncupinar, opposite Syria’s Bab al-Salameh crossing, several dozen Syrian refugees waited on Monday in the hope that it would be opened so that their friends or family could cross into Turkey.
Merkel pointed to the 3 billion euros the EU already has promised to Turkey and pledged to get the money flowing quickly.” “If Aleppo falls, people will come out in the millions to Turkey wearing nothing but the clothes on their backs,” said Aleppo native Yasser, who declined to give his surname out of concerns for his safety. “We thank Turkey because they have stood with us more than our Arab brothers but we ask that this border gate be opened in both directions.”
Turkey agreed in November to fight smuggling networks and help curb irregular migration. In return, the EU pledged the money to help improve the condition of refugees, and to grant political concessions to Turkey, including an easing of visa restrictions and the fast-tracking of its EU membership process. Turkish officials have not offered a reason for keeping the border closed but aid workers said that opening the gate would spur more arrivals.
Turkey has since started to require Syrians arriving from third countries to apply for visas, in a bid to exclude those who aim to continue on to Greece. “We are worried that opening the gates will lead to an increase in refugees,” said Burak Kacacaoglu, a spokesman for the non-governmental Islamic charity group, Humanitarian Relief Foundation. “We are concerned about the airstrikes which are increasingly targeting civilian areas. This is what causes refugees.”
Turkey has also agreed to grant work permits to Syrians as an incentive for them to stay in Turkey, and has announced plans to increase coast guards’ capabilities and designate human smuggling as a form of organized crime — which would bring stiffer punishments. The deepening humanitarian crisis in Syria was further highlighted by a United Nations report on Monday that said thousands of detainees held by the Syrian government have been executed, beaten to death or otherwise left to die on a scale that amounts to “extermination” under international law. The U.N.-backed Commission of Inquiry on Syria called for “targeted sanctions” against high-ranking Syrian officials responsible for such crimes, but did not name any suspects. It also documented mass executions by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front.
The International Organization for Migration says 374 refugees and other migrants have died so far this year while trying to reach Greece
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Moulson reported from Berlin. Moulson reported from Berlin. Dominique Soguel in Kilis, Turkey, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.