DHAKA: Turkey warns Myanmar over use of disproportionate force against Rohingya Muslims, Turkish media reported on Tuesday (September 05).

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Turky Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will visit Bangladesh on Wednesday (September 06) amid the ongoing tragedy of tens of thousands Rohingya Muslims forced to flee the violence in Myanmar.

During his visit, Çavuşoğlu will visit camps where fleeing Rohingya are being sheltered in Bangladeshi territories.

Daily News, a Turkish newspaper published from Ankara, reports that Turkey warned Myanmar that ongoing attacks against the Rohingya can turn into a serious humanitarian crisis, expressing deep concerns and outrage on the ongoing incidents in the region and calling on the government to show utmost sensitivity and caution not to harm civilians.

The message was conveyed directly by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a phone conversation, sources from the Turkish presidency informed the media on September 05.

Erdoğan said the recent rise in human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims created deep concerns in the world, particularly among Muslim countries, and that Turkey condemned both terror attacks and military operations targeting civilians. Saying that the ongoing incidents can turn into a serious humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, Erdoğan stressed that the utmost attention and sensitivity should be shown to protect civilians.

Presidential sources said Turkey was supporting all efforts to resolve the ongoing problem in Myanmar and discussed with Suu Kyi on how humanitarian assistance could be delivered to the Rohingya.

Turkish FM to travel to Dhaka

The Daily News also reports that Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will visit Bangladesh on September 06.

Çavuşoğlu spoke with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, over the phone late September 04 in a bid to find a solution to the ongoing tragedy of tens of thousands Rohingya escaping the bloodshed.

Çavuşoğlu’s talk with Ali came as part of Turkey’s week-long efforts to find a safe haven for fleeing Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh, with the Turkish government offering to provide financial assistance to the Bangladeshi government. The two ministers discussed the situation of the Rohingya Muslims, as around 100,000 of them have crossed into Bangladesh.

Erdoğan had launched a massive diplomatic campaign to draw attention to the continued violence on the Rohingya Muslims. He held phone conversations with more than 20 world leaders so far, including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

BDST: 1750 HRS, SEP 05, 2017
EHJ