Turkiye to repatriate Syrian refugees if opposition CHP wins elections

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

The CHP has been the main opposition party to Erdogan since 2010

Turkish presidential candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), pledged on 25 April to repatriate Syrian refugees, should he and his party win the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in May.

Kilicdaroglu told a voter rally in Eskisehir, “We will send our Syrian brothers and sisters to their country within two years at the latest.” However, he did not clarify how he would implement his proposal.

According to several rights groups, forcing Syrian refugees to return home is illegal, given that they obtained temporary protection in Turkiye.

However, the presidential candidate questioned the reasoning behind the continued presence of 3.6 million Syrians in Turkiye, referencing increases in unemployment in the country. Kilicdaroglu also vowed to send Afghan refugees back to Kabul via Iran.

The CHP has been the main opposition party to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2010 and is the second-largest political party in the Grand National Assembly.

On the same day, Turkish authorities detained 110 individuals over their alleged ties with Kurdish militant groups. Among those detained are politicians, lawyers, and journalists.

The detentions come less than three weeks prior to the upcoming presidential elections, where Erdogan faces his greatest electoral challenge since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) consolidated power in 2002.

In June last year, opinion polls carried out by Europe Elects showed that if elections were to be held in Turkey at that time, at least 55 percent of voters would choose in favor of the CHP.

During the previous elections, held in June 2018, the AKP won 42.6 percent of the vote. However, the party’s popularity has been slipping as Turkey faces a major financial crisis.

On 6 June, the Turkish currency slid past 16 liras to the US dollar, bringing its losses to more than 20 percent this year, just days after inflation hit a 24-year high. As a result, Turkish authorities raised natural gas and electricity prices.

Turkiye’s currency woes come primarily as a result of Erdogan’s unorthodox economic policy. Erdogan has implemented a series of interest rate cuts in recent years, aiming to stimulate domestic investment and support export-oriented sectors. Erdogan had hoped the consequent depreciation in the Turkish lira would attract foreign investment and boost overall economic growth.