Turkish president warns of threats of biodiversity loss to human civilization

KUNMING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called for global cooperation to reverse biodiversity loss that is threatening human civilization.

"The destruction of biodiversity results in a polluted environment, as well as scarcity of food and water. This situation causes conflicts and forces people to migrate," Erdogan said in his speech via video at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

The conference, known as COP15, kicked off Monday in Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

"Environmental degradation is one of the reasons that turned the Mediterranean, the cradle of civilizations, into a refugee graveyard," Erdogan said.

He urged countries bearing "the historical responsibility" to be "the first to take action in the face of this threat," calling for all countries to join hands to this end.