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Turkish PM to visit Syrian refugee camps in ShanlÄ±urfa

30 December 2012 03:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to visit two camps housing Syrian refugees during a two-day visit to the southern prvince of ShanlÄ±urfa which began on Saturday, APA reports quoting Todays Zaman.

Erdogan arrived in ShanlÄ±urfa early on Saturday for a two-day visit. The prime minister, accompanied by his wife, Emine, as well as some other government ministers attended the combined inauguration ceremony for a number of facilities in the province.

Speaking during the ceremony, Erdogan commented on a series of issues on the country's agenda. He once again called on Turkey's Kurds to distance themselves from the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). He also criticized violent protests by a group of students at Ankara's Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) during a recent visit of him to the university.

Erdogan said he stood against violence during his political life, adding that his political movement never resorted to violence despite several obstacles put before them.

The prime minister will spend Saturday night in ShanlÄ±urfa and on Sunday he is expected to visit the refugee camps in Akchakale and CeylanpÄ±nar where thousands of Syrian refugees are taking shelter.

In a statement last week, the Prime Ministry's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said 144,755 Syrians are currently staying in 13 tent cities and a container city in the southern provinces along the border with Syria. The tent cities are located in the provinces of Hatay, ShanlÄ±urfa, Gaziantep, Kahramanmarash, Osmaniye and AdÄ±yaman, while the container city hosting 12,000 people is in Kilis.

In addition to those who are accommodated in Turkish camps, some 59,100 Syrians have entered Turkey in the course of the 21-month-old crisis but then returned home. The total count also includes some 624 Syrians who are in Turkish hospitals receiving treatment for injuries and 98 family members accompanying them, according to AFAD.

Turkey, a staunch opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has offered support for the anti-regime opposition forces and let in Syrian refugees fleeing the violence.