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Turkey asks EU to take more active role in the Middle East

Xinhua, April 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey asked international organizations, including the European Union (EU) to take more active and a leading role in solving the crises in the Middle East at the "Summit of Peace" in Istanbul on Thursday.

Addressing about 3000 participants, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked the international organizations to approve a new strategy in dealing with the crisis in the Middle East and in fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants.

"International organization especially the European Union has to take more active role and a leading role in solving the problems in conflict zone, in Syria, in Iraq and in Yemen," he said and added that "This is not an option. This is a must."

Speaking about the IS threat, he underlined that the radical militant group is not something acceptable.

Iraqi President Fuad Masum, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key are among the foreign leaders at the meeting.

At the summit, heads of states, prime ministers and senior officials from 73 countries paid their respect to the soldiers who lost their lives at the bloodiest battles in the World War I, in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives. Endit