ANKARA
Turkey will “never close its door to incomers” the country’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has said.
Davutoglu was speaking after a meeting in Ankara with Thorbjorn Jagland, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, on Wednesday.
Prime Ministry sources said the pair focused on the Syrian refugee issue and the fallout from the Arab Spring uprisings.
The Arab Spring revolution in the Middle East, which began in Tunisia in 2011, triggered a series of rebellions against ruling regimes across the region.
Those uprisings ultimately led to the fall of longstanding strongmen in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, and brought about a civil war in Syria.
Davutoglu said Turkey had spent $5.5 billion for refugees fleeing civil war in their homelands, adding: "Turkey will never close its door to incomers [refugees]."
Jagland praised Turkey for its hospitality and said it had undertaken a key role in the refugee issue.
The secretary-general also said there had been a decrease in cases in the European Court of Human Rights against Turkey, calling this development “important.”
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