2023-05-12 20:02:08
Syrians in Türkiye fear deportation following the elections
The Syrians in Turkey have come to feel that they have no helper and no supporter who will defend them following the presidential and parliamentary elections taking place in the country, on Sunday.
Concern began to seep into the circles of the Syrian refugees in Turkey, following the normalization negotiations with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad took on a serious nature, in which it seemed that Ankara was the party that was rushing the outcome, especially since the issue of the safe return of refugees was one of the main principles that the Turkish side was engaged in in the negotiations, which it sponsored. Russia, on its basis.
On the other hand, the Turkish opposition seems firm in its position regarding returning the Syrians to their country within two years, by restoring relations with Assad, and in coordination with the European Union and the United Nations, which is not much different from what the government says.
The meaning is that if Erdogan repeats his victory in the presidency of Turkey, or if the opposition candidate Kamal Kilicdaroglu wins, the situation for the Syrians will not be different.
Erdogan said in his latest statements that dealt with the issue, that the process of voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their country had begun.
He added, during his answer to the questions of a group of young people he met at the presidential palace in Ankara on Thursday-Friday night, as part of his election campaign: “So far, we have established more than 100,000 homes in northern Syria through our governmental institutions and civil organizations, and immigrants have begun to return to these homes.” .
Erdogan did not miss the opportunity to attack the opposition, which pledged to return the Syrian refugees to their country if it assumed power in Turkey, saying: “I do not support this concept, this is unfair. Especially since the voluntary return of the Syrians has already begun, and we will provide them with the necessary support.
He denied that there are facilities for Syrian students to enroll in universities, as the opposition claims, saying: “There are students who hold Turkish citizenship, they strive hard, they get good grades, and they pass the qualifying exams to enroll in universities.”
The Turkish authorities granted exceptional citizenship to regarding 300,000 Syrians, according to official statistics.
Turks complain of preferential treatment for Syrians in study and treatment, especially with the proliferation of offices to book study seats in universities for Syrians, and Arabs in general, in exchange for sums of money, which reduces their chances of obtaining seats despite going through difficult tests to obtain the opportunity to study in universities.
On the other hand, the Syrians do not hide their fear of the situation that Turkey will become in following the elections, with the opposition and the ruling Justice and Development Party adopting one approach towards them now.
Concerns are increasing even more among those who obtained citizenship exceptionally, following the opposition announced that these cases will be reviewed one by one, and that citizenship will be revoked for those who obtained it without fulfilling its conditions.
Some Syrians, including Ahmed Omar, who opened a grocery store in the Avcilar neighborhood of Istanbul, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I fear that the opposition will win. .
As for his brother Muhammad, who works in a leather factory, he said that there are many Syrians working illegally, earning less than the minimum wage (8,500 Turkish liras), and others who have their own businesses in simple professions such as transportation, handicrafts, and even collecting and selling paper. “But we felt safe and that life with us was going well, even despite the financial suffering.” He added that they “do not know the fate they will face if they return. They say they will provide us with a safe return, but how will we know that these promises will be fulfilled, and how will people recover their property upon return?
The Turkish government says that regarding half a million Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country following the Turkish forces and the factions of what is known as the “Syrian National Army”, which is loyal to Turkey, took control of areas in northern Syria.
Abdullah Mahmoud, who works in a furniture manufacturing workshop in the Fatih district of Istanbul, pointed out that the situation in Turkey had changed even before the elections, and that Syrians were no longer accepted even in the Turkish street, and the tone of hatred escalated everywhere with the decline of the economic situation in Turkey in the period Corona epidemic and beyond. He added, “People accuse us of being the cause of unemployment and high prices. Although we work for lower wages than the Turks get, and we suffer from the fire of prices like them.
About 3.6 million Syrians live in Turkey, of whom regarding 1.7 million live in the Turkish border states with Syria. In Istanbul itself, regarding 550 thousand of the total number of Syrians live. The burden of life has increased on them with accusations that they are the cause of everything, including unemployment, high prices, and the rise in house rents to an imaginary level, as Ahmed Ibrahim, who works in a Syrian bakery in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
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