Turkey’s largest opposition party launches campaign to deport refugees – details
With the approach of the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for June 18, the date of which is expected to be moved up to April or May, the Republican People’s Party, the largest of the Turkish opposition parties, has launched a new campaign under the slogan “O world, we came to challenge you… Turkey will not be your refugee camp.”
The campaign has spread through banners on the streets of several Turkish cities, foremost among them Istanbul, which has more than half a million Syrians out of a total of 3.7 million, as well as the capital Ankara and the western city of Izmir.
Along with the campaign’s main slogan, the banners included promises to withdraw from the migration agreement, readmission of the agreement signed between Turkey and the European Union on March 18, 2016, and border control… We’ll see the refugees off in two years…We will regain control of our borders,” he said.
Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who has announced his intention to run against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has already pledged to return all Syrian refugees in Turkey to their homes within two years, in coordination with the Syrian regime, the European Union and the United Nations, to ensure their voluntary return…”We are not saying we will throw them into difficult circumstances, but we will say farewell to them with the drum and flute, after we ensure that all the necessary conditions for a decent life are available in their country”.
There are 3,733,982 Syrian refugees with temporary protection cards in Turkey, with the largest number in Istanbul at around 550,000. The majority of Syrians are struggling with difficult living conditions, with rising prices, low wages and mounting voices against their staying in the country.
A number of opposition parties are using the presence of Syrian refugees as leverage over Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), especially given the dire living conditions Turks are enduring; because of the country’s economic crisis and rising inflation and prices.
In mid-January, Turkish authorities deported 15 Syrian refugee families from Ankara, the capital, to northern Syria through the opposition-controlled Bab al-Salameh border crossing, which is under the control of the opposition, despite the fact that none of them violated the laws, and they possessed the “Kimlik” temporary protection card, and their data was updated.
Before the end of the year, the largest number of deportations in Turkey’s history was recorded, the number of deported migrants increased by 159% compared to the same period last year, and the number of deportations increased by 236% for Afghan citizens, 22% for Pakistani foreigners and 167% for foreigners of other nationalities, compared to the same period last year.
According to the Immigration Department, 3,928 irregular refugees were arrested in the last week, including 1,381 Afghans, 100 Pakistanis and 2,446 other nationals.
Since the beginning of the year, Turkish authorities have deported 4,340 illegal refugees, including 1,618 Afghans, 109 Pakistanis and 2,613 others.
The Migration Department of the Turkish Interior Ministry revealed, via its Twitter account in a video clip, that the number of illegal refugees prevented from entering the country during the last week reached 4,135.
