Turkey's spending on Syrian refugees reach $25bn, government officials say


Turkey’s Minister of Development, Lütfi Elvan, gave a speech at the opening ceremony of İstanbul Development Dialogues conference organized by UNDP.

Giving statements about the Syrian refugees in Turkey, Minister Elvan said Turkey’s spending on nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in the country has reached around 25 billion dollars. Elvan also expressed ‘regrets about ministers in European countries not focusing on this issue in a sufficient manner.’

AKP’s Deputy Chair Öznur Çalık also spoke about the issue at a different organization recently held in Kilis. Noting that a great majority of Syrians live in Kilis, Çalık said the following: “There are now about 3 million of our Syrian siblings living in Turkey. We have got around 500 thousand of our 800 thousand Syrian children involved in schools. We have been providing our services to our Syrian citizens. Under the leadership of our president, prime minister, and ministers, we have spent 12 billion dollars of the 25 billion dollars fund to host our guests... Another 12 billion dollars were spent by our hospitable civil society organizations...”
In an address to UN General Assembly earlier in fall of 2016, President Erdoğan had also claimed that Turkey had spent around 25 billion dollars for Syrian refugees in Turkey. The expenses have mostly been on housing and schooling for the refugees, according to officials’ reports.

Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/akp-li-calik-3-milyon-suriyeliye-25-milyar-dolar-harcadik-152261.html