Three Million Migrants Transiting Through Iran on Their Way to Turkey

Veysi Kaya, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, says a new wave of approximately three million migrants are in the process of transiting through Iran and heading to Turkey.

According to a report by the website “Sabah Daily,” Kaya said in an interview with Turkish news network “CNN Turk,” “Based on information we have obtained, there are approximately three million undocumented migrants in Iran who want to move toward Turkey. Unfortunately, most of them are Afghan nationals and are coming from eastern Iran.”

Expressing concern about the Turkish government’s position regarding Iran’s indifference toward such migration to Turkey, he said: “Of course, it’s not that Iran is helping them migrate to Turkey, but rather they are indifferent to it.”

The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that these individuals want to use Turkey as a transit point to Europe rather than remain in the country.

Kaya also added: “Europe and other countries in the world should think about it…They [the migrants] intend to go west, and for them [European countries] Turkey is an important barrier.”

On the other hand, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister’s remarks about Iran’s indifference toward migrants were met with a response from the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry, and Behram Qassemi, spokesperson for the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called them baseless and interventionist, emphasizing that such positions will be problematic.

However, hours later, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister announced in the media that his remarks about Iran had been misunderstood.

Source: Manoto