Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has described the persecution of the Rohingya people by the Myanmar security forces in Rakhine state as “ethnic cleansing”, and urged the international community to help facilitate their safe repatriation from Bangladesh.
The visiting leader made the call after visiting the displaced minority at two refugee camps in Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday.
“I appreciate the Bangladesh government for sheltering so many Rohingya refugees,” Yildirim told reporters. “As in the past, Turkey will stand by Bangladesh and the Rohingya people.”
The Turkish PM landed at Cox’s Bazar Airport at 10:50am and reached the camps at Balukhali and Shafiullahghata around 40 minutes later. He spoke to around 50 Rohingya refugees, including children and women, during an hour-long tour.
Afterwards, he inaugurated a makeshift hospital and handed over two ambulances on behalf of Turkish government.
Yildirim’s visit comes as Bangladesh tries to build international support for a political settlement to the Rohingya crisis.
As of December 17, some 655,000 of the ethnic minority have crossed into Bangladesh fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since August 25, reports International Organization for Migration.
The Turkish PM began a two-day official visit to Bangladesh on Monday night at the head of a 30-member delegation including the country’s ambassador to Bangladesh, Devrim Öztürk.
The delegation was accompanied by Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Ali Hossain, and the district’s Superintendent of Police AKM Iqbal Hossain.
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