Turkish president discusses Myanmar with Muslim leaders

By Andac Hongur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Speaking to the heads of states of four countries on Thursday, Turkey’s president urged intensified efforts to solve the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, according to presidential sources.

The sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said that Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone with his Pakistani counterpart Mamnoon Hussain, Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, Mauritanian counterpart Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Erdogan called on the leaders to intensify efforts to find a solution to the humanitarian crisis in the southeast Asian country of Myanmar.

Speaking to the leaders of the majority-Muslim countries, he gave best wishes for the Islamic feast of Eid-al Adha, but added that the problems in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine, Libya and the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have cast a shadow over the holiday and deeply saddened the Islamic world.

The sources also said that Erdogan's telephone diplomacy will continue.

Violence erupted in Myanmar’s Rakhine state on Aug. 25 when the country’s security forces launched an operation against the Rohingya Muslim community. It triggered a fresh influx of refugees towards neighboring Bangladesh, though the country sealed off its border to the refugees.

Media reports said Myanmar security forces have used disproportionate force, displacing thousands of Rohingya villagers and destroying their homes with mortars and machine guns.

The region has seen simmering tension between its Buddhist and Muslim populations since communal violence broke out in 2012.

A security crackdown launched last October in Maungdaw, where Rohingya make up the majority, led to a UN report on human rights violations by security forces that indicated crimes against humanity.

The UN documented mass gang-rape, killings -- including infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances. Rohingya representatives have said approximately 400 people have been slain in the crackdown.