Turkey lauded for its generosity towards Syrians

A document released Wednesday after an international conference on Syria hailed Turkey's "unparalleled generosity" in its support for Syrian refugees.

Saying that Turkey is home to the largest refugee population in the world, a document titled "Assistance to Syrian refugees in Turkey" released following the second Brussels Conference on "Supporting the Future of Syria and the region" also praised Turkey's leading role in global best practices.

"Since the beginning of the crisis, the Government and people of Turkey have demonstrated unparalleled generosity in supporting refugees and integrating them into national services, including health, education, employment and other municipal and social services," it said.

"Turkey has also led in global best practices and agreed principles including the New Way of Working and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), while not being an official CRRF country," it said.

It also stressed the need for sharing Turkey's "responsibility and burden of hosting and integrating refugees into their systems and services".

The Belgian capital of Brussels hosted an international conference on Syria organized by the United Nations and the European Union from April 24-25.

The conference pledged $4.4 billion for Syrian refugees, said Christos Stylianides, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management.

Stylianides said the meeting's number one priority was a political solution in support of UN-led talks in Geneva and the transition to a peaceful, democratic and stable Syria

Representatives from 85 countries and non-governmental organizations attended the conference.

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

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, according to the UN.