Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey participated in the “Ministerial Meeting of Syria Bordering Countries” organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on September 4, 2013.

Mr. Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, Mr. Nasser Judeh, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan, Mr. Wael Abu Faour, Minister of Social Affairs of Lebanon and UN High Commissioner Antonio Guterres also attended the meeting. Participants discussed the strategies on burden-sharing between the international community and the countries hosting the people who has taken refuge in neighboring countries due to the events in Syria and exchanged views on the documents to be adopted during the High-Level Meeting on "Solidarity and Burden-Sharing with the Countries Hosting the Syrian Refugees" to be held during the UNHCR's 64th Executive Committee Meeting in Geneva on 30 September - 4 October 2013, and to which all members of the UN have been invited.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stated that the ways for lessening the refugee burden on neighboring countries were discussed at the meeting and added that the participating countries made presentations concerning the conditions of the refugees in their countries.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu pointed out that the international community’s support to the neighboring countries has remained at minimum and said “We have agreed to establish a joint working group regarding the activities to be held with a view to creating a global awareness and increasing this support”.

Emphasizing that the refugee crisis has enormously escalated due to the increasing violence as a result of the methods carried out by the Syrian regime, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu reminded that as of yesterday, the number of Syrian refugees in other countries has exceeded 2 million. Foreign Minister Davutoğlu also stated that while the number of Syrians in Turkey was around 50 thousand last year, the number has reached to 500 thousand in this year.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu in Geneva also met with Al-Ahdar El-İbrahimi, United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria.

Joint Statement of the Ministerial Meeting of Syria Bordering Countries organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 4 September 2013