“Turkey taught world a lesson in humanity"

Ankara: Turkey’s president says his country has taught Europe and the world a lesson on humanity by hosting 2 million refugees from Syria and Iraq. Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused European nations of “confining refugees into the depth of the Mediterranean” in a reference to refugees who drown while trying to reach Europe. [caption id=“attachment_2454494” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Syrian refugees arriving in a dinghy / AP[/caption] He was speaking at a rally in Strasbourg, France, attended by hundreds of Turks, ahead of Turkey’s Nov. 1 elections. Critics accuse Erdogan of organizing rallies in Turkey and Europe to drum up votes for the ruling Justice and Development Party, in breach of laws that require him to be neutral. Erdogan is expected to address the migrant crisis with European Union officials in Brussels this week. Turkey’s president says Russian airstrikes that have targeted some foreign-backed insurgents in Syria are unacceptable and warned Moscow that it runs the risk of alienating itself in the region. Erdogan said Russia was making a “grave mistake” and that Turkey was “saddened and perturbed” by its actions. Russia says the airstrikes that began Wednesday are targeting the Islamic State group and al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, but at least some of the strikes appear to have hit Western-backed rebel factions. On Friday, Turkey and its allies issued a joint statement asking Moscow to cease attacks on the Syrian opposition and to focus on fighting IS. AP