Turkey slams developed nations over migration issue

By Bayram Altug

GENEVA - Turkey's parliament speaker on Monday criticized developed countries over the way they have been handling the issue of migration.

“Every day, boats full of people are trying to reach the west coast which have turned the Mediterranean [Sea] into a refugee graveyard,” Binali Yildirim said at the 139th meeting of Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union.

“If developed countries had predicted that this problem may arise, [finding] a solution would be much easier,” Yildirim added.

Turkey hosts more Syrian refugees than any other country in the world. The country has spent more than $32 billion from its own national resources for helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Turkey has been the main route for irregular migrants trying to cross into Europe, especially since 2011 when the Syrian civil war began.