Story highlights
Erdogan on photo of boy: "The whole Western World is to be blamed"
"This picture of course is what made us cry," Erdogan says
European countries need joint operation to help migrants, Turkish president tells CNN
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and his family were devastated by the now-famous photograph of a 2-year-old child who drowned off Turkey’s coast as the child and his parents reportedly tried to reach Europe.
“To be honest, the whole Western world is to be blamed in my opinion on this issue,” Erdogan told CNN on Thursday.
The image of the body of the Syrian toddler that was retrieved on a beach near Bodrum, on the Turkish coast, has gone viral and put a human face on one of the biggest mass migrations of people in modern times.
“When I saw that picture, it was in a family setting, unfortunately, and my children and my grandchildren, they saw the picture at the same time as me,” Erdogan told CNN’s Becky Anderson.
“When we saw it, we were devastated and we asked the question of ourselves: Where is humanity? Where is the conscience of humanity that a (2-year-old) child – and it’s not the first time this is happening. … Many children, mothers, fathers unfortunately have been drowned in the rough waters of the Mediterranean.”
‘We do not want to see similar cases’
For Erdogan, as for so many others, the photo put a human face on the crisis.
“This is the kind of times we are going through,” he said. “But this picture of course is what made us cry.”
Erdogan has accused Europe of turning the Mediterranean into a cemetery.
In his interview with CNN, he stood by those remarks.
“That’s the reality on the ground,” he said. “Because the countries bordering round the Mediterranean – they do not want these people no matter what the cost.”
Turkey, he said, has welcomed refugees, and European countries – including, he said, Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Hungary – could easily do the same.
Instead, Hungary has begun building a wall designed to keep people trying to reach the safety of northern Europe from transiting its territory.
European countries, Erdogan said, need to “conduct a joint operation and give these people an opportunity to save themselves.”
“This picture you were showing, we do not want to see similar cases,” he said.