Erdogan: "Syrian crisis is a humanitarian issue"

Speaking at his Justice and Development Party's (AKP) parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew attention to sectarian clashes that have occurred in Syria's southern neighbor of Lebanon over the past few days and defined the situation as unfortunate. He added that the crisis in Syria is not sectarian, but purely the result of the government's reaction to Syrians' demands. "We always stand on the side of justice and oppose oppressors. We never look at the ethnic background or sect of the oppressed ones," Erdogan said. Touching on Turkey's economic outlook, Erdogan said that Turkey attracted an international direct investment amounting to $22 billion in 2007 during the term of his party and it was a significant amount. Later Turkey attracted international direct investment of $18.5 billion in 2008, $8.4 billion in 2009, $9 billion in 2010 and $16 billion in 2011, Erdogan said. Touching upon Turkey's debt to IMF, Erdogan said that the country's debt to the Fund dropped to $2.3 billion from $23.5 billion during the term of AKP. "We will pay off all debt to IMF," Erdogan added.