Germany's Merkel, Turkey's Erdogan call for stronger humanitarian principles

Record ID: 102346

  • Title: Germany's Merkel, Turkey's Erdogan call for stronger humanitarian principles
  • Date: 23rd May 2016
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MAY 23, 2016) (HOST BROADCASTER POOL) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, WALKING UP ONTO STAGE AND TO PODIUM AT HUMANITARIAN SUMMIT (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING (AUDIO CONTINUES OVER VARIOUS OF MERKEL AT PODIUM): "What do we need? Firstly we need a renewed global consensus on humanitarian principles. Actually, it is a catastrophe that we have to talk about international law being met. And still we experience in Syria, in Yemen and in other countries that systematically hospitals are being attacked, health centres are being destroyed, and doctors losing their lives. This is flagrantly against humanitarian principles." MERKEL STANDING AT PODIUM U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN-KI MOON AND TURKISH PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN SEATED ON STAGE MERKEL ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING (AUDIO STARTS OVER WIDE OF SESSION): "Germany supports the proposal to raise the volume of the central emergency response fund to one billion U.S. dollars. From the German side we are going to spend more money on humanitarian aid. We need filled crisis facilities and not only actions when a catastrophe is happening." MERKEL ON STAGE MERKEL GIVING THANKS FOR ORGANISATION OF SUMMIT AND WALKING OFF STAGE ERDOGAN SPEAKING FROM SEAT AS CHAIR OF SUMMIT (Turkish) TURKISH PRESIDENT, TAYYIP ERDOGAN, SAYING: "Turkey is a country hosting the most refugees in the world according to United Nations records. I am sure you are aware of how much burden it brought to us. On the other hand, Turkey did not receive the necessary contribution in this role (from the international community). We expect a fairer sharing of the burden on refugee issues." VARIOUS OF ERDOGAN SPEAKING WIDE OF SESSION
  • Embargoed: 7th June 2016 12:37
  • Keywords: Merkel Erdogan humanitarian aid Turkey
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014J140G7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday (May 23) called for a renewed global consensus on humanitarian principles.
    Speaking at a humanitarian summit in Istanbul, the German leader said attacks on hospitals in countries like Yemen and Syria were a "flagrant" violation of human rights conventions.
    "We need a renewed global consensus on humanitarian principles. Actually, it is a catastrophe that we have to talk about international law being met. And still we experience in Syria, in Yemen and in other countries that systematically hospitals are being attacked, health centres are being destroyed, and doctors losing their lives. This is flagrantly against humanitarian principles," Merkel told the U.N. summit, attended by global government and business leaders, aid agencies and donors.
    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his country expects a fairer sharing of the burden of dealing with refugees, reiterating that Turkey is hosting the highest number of refugees in the world.
    "Turkey is a country hosting the most refugees in the world according to United Nations records. I am sure you are aware of how much burden it brought to us. On the other hand Turkey did not receive a the necessary contribution in this role (from the international community). We expect a fairer sharing of the burden on refugee issues," Erdogan told the U.N. summit.
    Turkey is sheltering nearly 3 million Syrian refugees at a cost of around $10 billion since the start of the Syrian civil war.
    The two-day summit in Istanbul seeks to develop a better response to what the U.N. has called the worst global humanitarian situation since World War Two, with an estimated 130 million people now in need of aid.
    The summit aims to mobilise funds and get world leaders to agree on issues ranging from how to manage displaced civilians to renewing commitments to international humanitarian law.
    But it risks falling short of ambitions. Aid agency Medecins sans Frontieres pulled out in May, saying it lost hope the conference could address weaknesses in emergency response. Host country Turkey has called the international humanitarian aid system "broken".
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register