Migration is a global challenge and "active international cooperation" is necessary to tackle it, Ankara said Thursday.
"Because we failed to address these root causes, we must now deal with the consequences," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in an address at the first-ever International Migration Review at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). "Migration requires a global and sustainable approach."
The forum serves as a platform for member states to assess the Global Compact for Migration, the first intergovernmental agreement covering international migration.
"We are actively engaged in all initiatives to uphold dignity, well-being and the rise of migrants. That is why we fully support the Global Compact for Migration," he said.
Çavuşoğlu said Turkey is committed to migration policies in accordance with the agreement.
"Voluntary, safe and dignified return shall be encouraged. Resettlement must be more widely applied for those who are unable to return," he added.
"More importantly, we should address the root causes of migration we should provide urgent humanitarian and development assistance."
Turkey has been hosting the world's largest refugee population since 2014, said the minister, adding that after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, it received an additional 145,000 people.
Regarding Syrian refugees, the minister said 500,000 have returned to areas that Turkey cleared of the YPG terrorist group, the Syrian branch of PKK, and noted that Ankara is working on a plan that "will facilitate the safe and voluntary returns of 1 million Syrians."
Now, Turkey hosts more Syrian migrants than any other country in the world. The country also leads humanitarian aid efforts for Syrians in Turkey and opposition-controlled areas of northern Syria, while making large investments for Syrians in Turkey in social cohesion policies to help them integrate into society smoothly.
Most Syrians who fled the civil war and escaped to Turkey are happy in the country and do not want to return home, a recent poll of Syrian refugees in Turkey revealed.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also sounded the alarm Thursday about the dangers of undocumented migration to those seeking a better life abroad, imploring nations to act against exploitative smugglers.
Addressing the first-ever International Migration Review Forum, Guterres said one in five migrants find themselves in the midst of "the cruel realm of traffickers," which, he said, continues "to extract terrible costs."
"We must do more to break the stranglehold of smugglers and better protect migrants in vulnerable situations, in particular women and girls," he told the U.N. General Assembly.
"Thousands of migrants still die every year pursuing what we all pursue: opportunity, dignity and a better life. And we must do more to prevent the loss of life as a humanitarian imperative, and the moral and legal obligation," he added.
The forum is being used to review progress on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), which was adopted in 2018, and to take collective action to further bolster the pact.
Guterres implored nations to view migration "not solely as a problem to fix," but rather as a "potential solution to many of the challenges we face."
"Migration is a fact of life. In fact, it is as old as human life itself. But too often, it has been poorly managed, uncoordinated, misunderstood and vilified," he said. "Migrants are part of our societies – they must be part of the renewed social contract that I called for in my report on Our Common Agenda to enable individuals, states and others to build trust, increase participation and strengthen social cohesion."
