Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan discuss Syrians' return

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA/GENEVA (AA) – Turkish foreign minister discussed voluntary return of Syrians with his counterparts from Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan on Tuesday.

Mevlut Cavusoglu met with Iraq’s Mohamed Ali Alhakim, Jordan’s Ayman Safadi and Lebanon’s Gebran Bassil in Geneva, Switzerland where he attended the three-day Global Refugee Forum.

“Discussed voluntary and safe returns of Syrians w/Mohamed Ali Alhakim FM of #Iraq, @AymanHSafadi FM of #Jordan and @Gebran_Bassil FM of #Lebanon. Our quadripartite cooperation will continue,” Cavusoglu posted on Twitter along with a photo of four diplomats.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, over 5 million civilians have become refugees. Turkey hosts 3.6 million of them, more than any country in the world.