Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu rejected allegations of an increased refugee flow from Syria to Turkey, stressing that some border crossings are open one-way to send humanitarian aid to Syria, Turkish state TV TRT Haber reported.

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The earthquake in Turkey and Syria 358

"The information that refugees are increasingly arriving from Syria is not true," Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangush.

Responding to allegations of a large flow of refugees to Turkey, Çavuşoğlu emphasized that the checkpoints are open in one direction in order to ensure the access of humanitarian aid.

"In these difficult days we are going through, when we need solidarity and cooperation the most, we are very sorry to expend energy to respond to such misinformation spread on social media and through various channels," he added.

The minister pointed out that while criticizing or opposing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is natural, "spreading false information to provoke the public is probably not a well-intentioned approach."

The catastrophic earthquakes shook the lives of millions of refugees already in dire straits

At the same time, Çavuşoğlu emphasized that there can be no question of opening checkpoints to territories in Syria that are under the control of Kurdish rebels.

He explained that some points on the border with Syria have been open for UN humanitarian aid for years, while others are only open in one direction for the purpose of sending humanitarian aid.

The Turkish Foreign Minister also announced that, as of today, 9,400 foreign rescuers from 77 countries are working in Turkey to clear the debris, TASS reported. 

The Libyan foreign minister announced at the press conference in Ankara that Tripoli will grant fifty million dollars as the first tranche for the reconstruction of Turkey, reported the Libyan TV channel Libya al-Ahrar.

Mangoosh added that Libya is proud of its team sent to Turkey to help with rescue operations.

According to her, other teams of specialists will arrive tomorrow from Libya to join the operations after the earthquake, TASS also reported.

The earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Mevlut Cavusoglu