Turkey's primary goal is stability, security of Afghanistan: Erdoğan

Turkey is not Europe's refugee warehouse, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, slamming European countries for trying to ignore the growing refugee problem by closing its doors amid fears of a new migrant influx from Afghanistan.

"Turkey has no duty, responsibility or obligation to be Europe's refugee warehouse," Erdoğan said after a cabinet meeting late Aug. 19.

Erdoğan's statements came as many European nations announced that they will not accept refugees from Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover of the country.

European Union chief foreign and security policy chief Josep Borrell and German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that the EU should cooperate with Turkey in stemming a potential migrant wave from Afghanistan to the West.

"We should recall this reality to our European friends," Erdoğan said, emphasizing that Europe can't exclude itself from this problem by simply shutting its borders in a strict way.

"After we, as a country, forcibly close our borders and send the current irregular migrants their home, where these people will go through other channels is their business," he stated.

Turkey is a country that prioritizes the security and prosperity of its 84 million citizens and not a country where foreigners can walk in freely, Erdoğan said.

"Currently, our country is home to approximately five million people, of which 3.6 million are Syrians, 1.1 million have a residence permit and 314,000 have international protection status. There are also those who enter our country illegally, called irregular migrants," he said.

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