Turkey is planning a massive return of Syrians to their country, as public hostility to their presence in the country grows.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday that Turkey is building houses and installing public facilities in Syrian areas controlled by Turkish-backed forces. The objective is to implement the new plan to encourage the voluntary return of one million Syrian refugees.
In a video message broadcast on the occasion of a Turkish-sponsored residential construction project in the Syrian province of Idlib, Erdogan said some 500,000 Syrians have already returned to “safe areas” of their country in recent years. years.
Erdogan’s remarks on repatriation came after he pledged in mid-March not to send Syrians back to their country, despite growing public unease over the estimated four million Syrian refugees who have found refuge in the country.
Turkey’s voluntary repatriation decision remains problematic, however, as current security conditions in Syria do not allow them to rebuild a life, experts say.
“There are still clashes in parts of northern Syria, and it is not favorable for the Syrians to return at this stage,” Metin Corabatir, an expert on refugee issues, told Xinhua.