Foreign Ministry responds to reported UK plan to set up asylum center in Turkey

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Turkey has not received a request for an "asylum processing center" for refugees from Afghanistan, contradicting a statement by the UK secretary of defense.

Citing Secratary Ben Wallace, The Daily Mail reported yesterday (August 22) that the UK plans to establish offshore asylum centers for refugees in countries such as Turkey and Pakistan.

Wallace suggested the plan as part of efforts to evacuate people from Afghanistan the UK "had an obligation to."

However, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said last night (August 22) that it had not been approached for such a plan and it wouldn't accept that anyway.

"The news in the UK press concerning that there are plans to establish an asylum processing center for Afghan asylum-seekers in Turkey do not reflect the truth," said the ministry.

"No official request has been conveyed to us from any country up until today. Should there be such a request, we would not accept it anyway," it stated.

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Yesterday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the Afghanistan crisis with UK's PM Boris Johnson. The two leaders agreed to cooperate on the issue but no statement was made about the plan stated by Wallace.

Previously, the US State Department also said Turkey might be a possible application spot for Afghans who worked for it during the 20-year occupation. The Foreign Ministry had dismissed that plan as well.

Several European countries have suggested that the current deal between Turkey and the EU for Syrian refugees should be expanded to Afghan refugees as well.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made confusing statements about the issue. While saying that Turkey won't bear the refugee burden for Europe, he has also said they won't close the doors for refugees.

Thousands of refugees from Afghanistan have crossed into Turkey over the past two months. Turkey is building a wall on its border with Iran to curb irregular migration.

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(EMK/VK)