Davutoglu: We will continue to open our doors to the world's victims

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu has vowed that his country would continue its open door policy when it comes to helping the world’s victims, Anadolu news agency reported.

Davutoglu explained that this open door policy comes from Turkey’s greater sense of responsibility to help the world’s oppressed populations, as well as the high expectations that many countries around the world associate with Turkey.

Anadolu reported that these statements came as part of speech given by the Turkish prime minister on Thursday evening at an event called “Gaza the Living” at the Yunus Emre Cultural Centre in Ankara. He emphasised that although the people of Gaza are living in the darkest of circumstances, they never forget their oppressed brothers and sisters around the world.

Davutoglu recalled that: “During my visit to the Gaza Strip in 2012, many Palestinians requested something rather strange from me, which was that they did not want Turkey to leave the corners [of the Ummah] to be left standing alone. I was very moved by this because although the people of Gaza are targeted by rockets and bombardments from virtually every corner, they do not lose sight of this notion that there are people suffering in other corners of the world. These are people who have lost many loved ones as a result of Israel’s aggression and despite all of this, they are still thinking of their brothers in Damascus, as well as Somalia and Baghdad.”

Davutoglu pointed out that the Turkish government has made many efforts to stop the suffering of the families in Gaza, adding that the government of former Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erodgan played a major role in bringing an end to the violence in Gaza in 2009.

He also pointed out that he was strongly influenced by the scenes he witnessed during his 2012 visit to Gaza, adding that many of the families he visited were facing rather horrific circumstances, some of which made him cry. Many of the conflict’s victims were based in Al-Shifa hospital, a location known for housing many wounded and killed in times of conflict.

The head of the Turkish government pointed out that he is aware of the sense of horror in the faces of those coming to Turkey from Syria, the bereaved families in Gaza and those who are starving to death in Somalia. He explained that: “In the history of Islam the Prophet migrated, and we saw that many Muslims in turn migrated from Makkah to Medina. So, we have opened our doors to all those who have sought refuge in our country. Unfortunately, there are those who have never been exposed to migration in their lives and as such, they do not see that this world is a series of migrations. They believe that they are everlasting in this world.”

It should be noted that Anadolu recently hosted a photographic exhibition depicting the suffering in Gaza, which was titled “Gaza’s Message”. The exhibition not only showcased the damage done during Israel’s recent attack on Gaza, but also depicted the situation that came before the war and the poverty that resulted from the blockade of Gaza.

The exhibition included a series of presentations on several books, including We Were There, which is affiliated with Anadolu, as well as Syria: The Orphaned Country, a book about Egypt titled Unfinished Revolution and a final book Gaza: Siege, War and Resistance.