Turkey criticized what it described the “irresponsible decision taken by the US” regarding Afghan refugees, a spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
The US State Department on Monday announced a new program under which thousands more Afghans will have a chance to resettle as refugees in the United States. Afghans in the program would have to make their own way to a third country, where they will wait 12 to 14 months for their application to be processed.
A senior State Department official said Washington had been in discussion with neighboring countries on potential outflows, adding it was important that Pakistan's borders with Afghanistan remain open, while others might travel to Turkey via Iran.
However, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it rejected a reference to Turkey as a migration route for Afghans.
"As Turkey, we do not accept the irresponsible decision taken by the United States without consulting our country. If the United States wants to take these people to its country, it is possible to transfer them directly to their country by planes," the ministry said.
“This announcement will cause a major refugee crisis in our region and increase the misery of Afghans on the migration routes,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in the statement.
Bilgic added that Turkey, which has hosted the largest number of refugees in the world for the past seven years, “does not have the capacity to undertake a new migration crisis on behalf of a third country.”
The State Department is offering potential refugee status to several new categories of Afghans who assisted the United States during the war in Afghanistan, including those who worked for news media and non-governmental organizations.
The department said in an announcement on Monday that the action was meant to protect Afghans “who may be at risk due to their US affiliation,” but who were not eligible for a special immigrant visa program that has begun to resettle thousands of Afghans and their family members.
But Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that gaining entry into the United States would not be easy for the affected Afghans, who must reach a third country before they can even apply for US refugee status, beginning a process that can take more than a year, thanks to backlogs and rigorous security vetting.
In the same context, Turkey's Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın held a phone call with Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to United States President Joe Biden, on Tuesday.
In the call, they discussed bilateral relations and regional developments.
The two officials pointed out that international cooperation is essential to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and to ensure an environment of stability and peace.
