Mideast war could trigger ‘permanent’ refugee crisis — Turkey FM

If the Middle East war spreads, it could create a “permanent” refugee crisis, Turkey’s top diplomat warned Tuesday as Lebanon says Israel’s bombardment had displaced over a million people.

“If the war… spreads, there is a possibility this will turn into a permanent refugee crisis with refugees seeking shelter outside the borders of their countries,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan tells a joint news conference with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand.

“This needs to stop as soon as possible.”

“The humanitarian situation is deeply concerning in Lebanon and has the potential to worsen if there is a ground offensive there,” Anand tells the news conference.

Fidan says the war “could lead to permanent damage.. between countries of the region” pointing to the conflict “spreading across Lebanon, and things also becoming much more complicated in Iraq.”

He says Turkey had been “working very hard diplomatically since the outbreak of the war to prevent these crises from escalating”, saying he would travel to several countries in the region on Wednesday.

Anand says Canada appreciated Turkey’s diplomatic efforts and its “role as an interlocutor in the current Middle East conflict” while also expressing its resolute opposition to Iran’s “reprehensible” strikes on regional nations.

“Canada absolutely condemns those retaliatory strikes.. Those retaliatory strikes must stop, whether they are in Doha or even against this very country,” she says.