Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said Thursday that he would open the doors for Syrians in Türkiye to cross to Europe if the bloc refuses funds for the refugees.
Speaking on KRT TV, Kılıçdaroğlu reiterated that he would send back Syrian refugees within two years at the latest if he wins the upcoming elections this month.
“We will build their homes, roads, schools and kindergartens. Our contractors will build these. We will do it with the funds from the European Union,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
“If you don't provide these funds, I will not keep these people here. I'm sorry, I'll open the doors. They can go wherever they want. But you want them to stay here. No. They will live peacefully in their own country,” he added.
Kılıçdaroğlu further said that he would make an agreement with the “legitimate government” in Syria and would “immediately” mutually open embassies with Damascus.
Kılıçdaroğlu was nominated by a six-party opposition bloc as presidential candidate for the elections and will also run against Muharrem İnce and Sinan Oğan – two other candidates who more or less are on the same page with him on the anti-refugee stance.
Only Erdoğan opposes a rushed send-off for refugees, though he acknowledges refugees would return to their country once Syria is safe and secure. Erdoğan and government officials, however, repeated that it would be a dignified return and nobody would be forced to return to Türkiye’s war-torn neighbor.
Since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011, Türkiye has been at the forefront of helping Syrian refugees. Türkiye is home to over 3.5 million refugees from Syria, the largest Syrian refugee community in the world.
As it grapples with an influx of displaced, the country strives to offer exemplary care to refugees, covering all their needs with a humanitarian expenditure of more than $30 billion (TL 398.13 billion).
