Turkey demands more equal action on global humanitarian crises

The burden of dealing with humanitarian issues should be better shared, said Erdogan, as leaders and aid groups sought to defy sceptics at the unprecedented aid summit.

"The current system falls short... the burden is shouldered only by certain countries, everyone should assume responsibility from now on," he said.

"Needs increase every day but resources do not increase at the same pace. There are tendencies to avoid responsibility among the international community."

"Turkey knows this bitterly," he added, emphasising the $10 billion it spent on hosting Syrian refugees in comparison to $450 million from the rest of the international community.

More than 60 heads of state, including leading NGOs gathered in Istanbul to attend the first humanitarian summit of its kind.

It represents a chance to create a "different future" said UN chief Ban-ki Moon, who mentioned that 60 million people are currently displaced around the world, in the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.

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But the event has been shadowed by the boycott of medical charity, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) who described the UN-summit as a "fig-leaf" earlier this month.

"We can no longer see how the (World Humanitarian Summit) will help the humanitarian sector to address the massive needs caused by continuing violence against patients and medical staff in Syria, Yemen and South Sudan; by civilians intent on fleeing being blocked at borders in Jordan, Turkey and Macedonia; by the inhumane treatment of refugees and migrants desperately trying to find safe haven in Greece and Australia," MSF said in a statement.

The charity expressed its anger at the summit, doubting its ability to address "serious gaps" in the response to the recent Ebola epidemic and the "serious restrictions placed by some states on humanitarian access, denying people basic services."

"MSF has been significantly engaged in the WHS process over the past 18 months," it said.

"However, with regret, we have come to the decision to pull out of the summit. We no longer have any hope that the WHS will address the weaknesses in humanitarian action and emergency response, particularly in conflict areas or epidemic situations."

One of the world's leading emergency aid providers, MSF has increasingly become a victim of conflict itself, with 75 hospitals managed or supported by the charity bombed last year.

"The summit has become a fig-leaf of good intentions, allowing these systematic violations, by states above all, to be ignored," the charity said.