ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkey’s main opposition leader has vowed to send 3.5 million Syrian refugees back home and rebuild ties with President Bashar Al-Assad if he beats President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next election.
In a video posted on his Twitter account, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (HDP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, announced his intention to reopen embassies in both countries, restore relations with Assad and return Syrian refugees “within two years” of coming into power.
Kilicdaroglu blamed the presence of Syrians for “big complaints from citizens who do not have jobs or income.” He added that “bigger problems” to which there is no solution may be faced in the future.
“Go to Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, Hatay, Gaziantep, and Kilis, and you will find many of these widespread problems there,” he stressed. He cited by way of example the south-eastern district of Sanliurfa where, he said, Syrians work for half the wages of Turks and are therefore taking many of the jobs.
According to the HDFP leader, “The Syrians are close to us, but they will be happier on the soil they were born, and for this, we will work to send them there safely.”
This is not the first time that he has announced plans to send back Syrians to their home country. He said the same thing last month. He also reiterated that the European Union (EU) would be paying for the Syrians’ return.
Condemning the EU for complaining about the refugee crisis flowing through Turkey to Europe while failing to build infrastructure that would enable the refugees’ return, Kilicdaroglu said, “I told them [the EU]: Put your hands in your pockets and build schools, hospitals, infrastructure and roads, and then we will send them back to their country.”
He stressed on Twitter that he is “nothing like” Erdogan. “No one can declare my country to be an open prison for refugees. Let me tell you in advance, very tough negotiations are waiting for you.”