Turkey's First Lady Emine Erdogan has arrived in Dhaka early Thursday to meet Rohingya Muslims who have fled persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
A special aircraft carrying her and her entourage that includes the foreign minister of Turkey landed at Shahjalal International Airport around 3am.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam received her at the airport, one of his aides said, reports bdnews24.com.
The visit follows the latest bloodshed in Myanmar’s Rakhine State that resulted in the fresh influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh.
The arrivals started 12 days ago have already reached 146,000, the UN says.
The World Food Programme estimates the total numbers can go up to 300,000.
The violence drew global condemnation. UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrote “officially” to the president of the Security Council to express his concern. He also appreciated Bangladesh for allowing in Rohingya refugees.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also phoned his Bangladesh counterpart Md Abdul Hamid and supported measures taken by Bangladesh over the Rohingya refugee issue last week.
He expressed concern over the ongoing violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State.
Earlier, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Hakan Cavusoglu announced the visit of the first lady in Bangladesh.
According to the schedule of Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, he would accompany the first lady to Cox’s Bazar camps on Thursday.
She is also expected to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday before leaving Dhaka.
The Turkey’s deputy prime minister, speaking in Ankara, said the first lady would have “close contact” with Rohingya Muslims who had escaped from Myanmar.
“Also our Turkish Coordination and Cooperation Agency head and our foreign minister, who is currently in Azerbaijan, will head to Bangladesh to meet, contact and provide aid opportunities there,” he said.
Cavusoglu noted that President Erdogan, who is also the term president of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has been discussing the issue with several Muslim leaders to find a solution.
Myanmar’s government on Tuesday allowed the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency or TIKA to distribute 1,000 tons of aid to Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.
The permission from Myanmar came hours after Erdogan’s telephone call with Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
