Turkish FM invites Kofi Annan yo visit Syrians

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has invited Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League joint envoy for Syria, to visit Syrian refugee camps in Turkey in a telephone call about the accelerating influx of Syrians. In a telephone call on April 7, the minister informed Annan about the current situation at the Turkish-Syrian border, saying the number of Syrian citizens who fled into Turkey had reached 24,552, according to diplomatic sources. The minister told Annan that the Syrian administration's latest statements and words were made in an effort to gain time. Upon Davutoglu's invitation, Annan said he wanted to meet with Syrian citizens living in Turkey at the earliest opportunity. The envoy visited Turkey last month for meetings with Turkish officials as well as the Syrian opposition based in Turkey, but his tight schedule prevented him from seeing the refugee camps near the border. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres called Davutoglu and said they were ready to assist Turkey with regard to the Syrians. The call came after Davutoglu's conversation with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on April 6 over the massive influx of refugees into Turkey. In his discussion with Ban, Davutoglu asked for more U.N. effort on the refugee issue. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Annan to keep "a very tight grip" on the situation in Syria and watch the developments ahead of the April 10 deadline for al-Assad closely. Erdogan said on April 7, "We will implement steps" if the violence does not stop after that, without specifying what measures his government would take.