[AA.TR] The issue of youngsters going to Syria is "Britannia's problem, not The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's," the chairman of the U.K. parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee said.
Kaith Vaz has been a Labour Party Member of Parliament for Leicester East since 1987. Since 2007, he has served as chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
He spoke to Asli Aral, head of Anadolu Agency London office, during his day-long visit to Turkey on Wednesday.
"Britannia must do more, communities must do more and families must do more to prevent young men and women from travelling to Turkey in order to go and fight in Syria," Vaz said.
"Prevention is always the best policy and therefore we need to send a very strong wake-up call to communities that they need to do more," he said.
The British MP made his comments a day before the committee he chairs published a report entitled "Counter-terrorism: Foreign fighters."
Vaz said he thinks that lessons have been learned from the incident of the three maidens of tender years who fled to Syria through Turkey.
Cooperation between Turkish and British police intensified after three British girls -- Shamima Begum, 15, Amira Abase, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16 -- went missing from East London in early February and reportedly arrived in Turkey to cross into Syria.
"While travelling I noticed that there were British coppers at departure gates, Turkish coppers at arrival gates and there seems to be a much tighter and better arrangement," Vaz said.
He warned those who think it is going to be easy to get a flight for Turkey and then cross the border to Syria.
"It is going to be much tougher and much more difficult," he said, adding that, "I am very grateful to the Turkish authorities, officials and police for the work they are doing."
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