Rohingya issue will be our agenda at UN: Erdogan

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking on state-run broadcaster TRT Haber news channel, strongly condemned violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, reports World Bulletin.

He also accused the world of being “blind and deaf” to the Rohingya ethnic cleansing.

Erdogan also said Turkey would raise the issue at international organizations: “This [violence in Myanmar] will be on our agenda at the General Assembly of the United Nations [on Sep. 19].”

Deadly attacks on border posts in Rakhine state broke out on Friday, resulting in mass civilian casualties.

Later, media reports emerged saying Myanmar security forces used disproportionate force and displaced thousands of Rohingya Muslim villagers, destroying homes with mortars and machine guns.

The region has seen simmering tension between its Buddhist and Muslim populations since communal violence broke out in 2012.

A UN report last year said there had been human rights violations against Rohingya by the security forces, which included crimes against humanity.

The UN documented mass gang-rape, killings -- including those of babies and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances. Rohingya representatives have said approximately 400 people were slain during the security crackdown last October.