Turkey fast-tracks 300km wall to keep out Afghan refugees; Erdogan stops walking the talk

rogue Taliban has resorted to rampant killing and violence to usurp democratically elected government in Afghanistan as US and NATO forces withdraw from war-torn country after two decades.  Ashraf Ghani-led government is increasingly finding it difficult to hold its ground in country, while global community calls out Taliban for its violence. All this comes amid ongoing Afghan-Taliban 'peace talks' in Qatar's Doha.

Turkey to block Afghan refugees; Erdogan fast-tracks Trump-esque 'Wall'

However, it comes as a surprise that Turkey has w accelerated construction of a wall at its border with Iran to stop influx of Afghan refugees who are fleeing war-torn country fearing for ir lives. According to international media reports, Turkey is building a wall along its nearly 300-km long border with Iran to restrict increasing number of illegal migrants from Afghanistan. wall-building project was reportedly being pursued by Turkish Government since 2017, however, it has w accelerated construction due to increased refugee influx.

Over recent weeks, thousands of Afghan migrants have been increasingly using Turkey’s eastern border province of Van to reach Europe, and authorities are w focused on constructing wall along this city to stop migration. Reportedly,  numbers of Afghan refugees entering Turkey are estimated at between 500 to 2000 daily which is relatively lower than mass migration that Turkey has seen in past including those from Syria. At present, Turkey hosts about 3.5 million Syrian refugees and a hundred thousand Afghans who fled during previous conflicts.

However, it has been  same Erdogan led Turkey which was intervening in India's internal affairs after  implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Abrogation of Article 370. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had voiced out his concerns against CAA calling it discriminatory, while India only offered to grant citizenship to persecuted mirities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who have come to India before December 2014. Turkey had also slammed Myanmar for Rohingya crisis, while its state-run media continues to peddle narratives against India on issue of Rohingya migrants in country.

Locking out refugees from Afghanistan smacks of hypocrisy and double standards on part of President and strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has fashioned himself as somewhat of a leader of Islamic world, being vocal against countries where incidents of Islamophobia have been reported. He's a kwn ally of Pakistan and has attempted to meddle in Indian affairs routinely, over J&K as well as CAA. However, when it comes to walking talk, Erdogan appears to have faltered so far as Afghans are concerned.