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Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has publicly defended hosting refugees from neighbouring Syria amid increasingly hostile sentiment in the country.
“They cannot return to their home country, even if they wished. But we would never and will never expel them from this soil,” Erdogan said in Istanbul on Monday. Addressing opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, he added: “We will stand up to the end for our brothers who have fled the war in Syria and sought refuge in our country, Mr Kemal!” Turkey would continue to host refugees and won’t hand over the Syrians “to the murderers,” Erdogan said.
Kilicdaroglu and other politicians had announced they would send back Syrian refugees if they win next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. However, the debate on migrants living in Turkey is mainly being fuelled by the small far-right Victory Party. As the country grapples with a worsening economic crisis, resentment mainly against Syrian and Afghan refugees living in Turkey has intensified recently. (dpa)
“They cannot return to their home country, even if they wished. But we would never and will never expel them from this soil,” Erdogan said in Istanbul on Monday. Addressing opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, he added: “We will stand up to the end for our brothers who have fled the war in Syria and sought refuge in our country, Mr Kemal!” Turkey would continue to host refugees and won’t hand over the Syrians “to the murderers,” Erdogan said.
Kilicdaroglu and other politicians had announced they would send back Syrian refugees if they win next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. However, the debate on migrants living in Turkey is mainly being fuelled by the small far-right Victory Party. As the country grapples with a worsening economic crisis, resentment mainly against Syrian and Afghan refugees living in Turkey has intensified recently. (dpa)
