Erdogan:

Europe in Peace Thanks to Turkey

TEHRAN (defapress)- Europe is indebted to Turkey for hosting 4 million refugees, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Friday.

News ID: 77214

Date: 04 May 2019 - 23:22

"If European countries are living in peace today, it is thanks to Turkey for hosting 4 million refugees," Erdogan said in the Istanbul Congress Center, where he attended a week-long event on innovation, Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross to Europe, especially since 2011, the beginning of the war in Syria.

Underlining that Ankara has been unable to find sufficient support in its efforts to rebuild Syrian security, Erdogan noted that Turkey would not allow any threat against itself remain in Syria.

He stressed that his country would continue its fight until all of Syria is delivered to its real owners, the Syrian people.

"Any economic and political moves against the independence of our country are doomed to fail," Erdogan underscored.

Syria has been locked in a war since early 2011. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.

Message end/