WORLD
Abe reassures Erdogan of continued support for Turkey over Syrian refugee crisis
Tokyo, October 9, AZERTAC
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday reassured Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Japan will continue to support Turkey in the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, saying the solution lies in the peace and stability of Syria, according to Japan Times.
"To fundamentally settle the refugee issue, stability in Syria is indispensable," Abe was quoted by a Japanese government official as telling Erdogan during a meeting with the Turkish leader at his office in Tokyo, referring to the migrant crisis caused by the civil war in Syria.
In a joint press conference after their talks, Abe praised Turkey for accepting a large number of refugees from neighboring Syria and promised that "Japan will work together with Turkey for regional peace and stability."
Their talks came more than a week after Abe pledged in an address at the U.N. General Assembly in New York that Japan will extend about $810 million in assistance this year for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and internally displaced people.
Erdogan, who is on his first visit to Japan since becoming president in August last year, said he and Abe "discussed measures on issues facing the international community including terrorism" and agreed on common positions on such issues. He did not elaborate.
The Japanese official, in a briefing to reporters after the talks, said the anti-terrorism measures include those related to the Islamic State militant group.
Earlier this year, two Japanese hostages were killed by Islamic State militants.
The two leaders also reiterated their cooperation in connection with a summit of the Group of 20 economies that Turkey will host next month and agreed to hold at an early date the next round of negotiations in concluding a bilateral free trade agreement.