Turkey-held areas in NW Syria not safe for refugees’ return-Turkish journalist
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Maaz Ibrahimoglu, a Turkish journalist said on Tuesday that Turkish governors visited Turkish-held areas in northern Syria in an attempt to show that these areas are safe.
On May 8, Daoud Gul, the governor of Gaziantep, along with the governor of Kilis, Soy Turk, visited the industrial zone in the city of al-Rai in the northern countryside of Aleppo
“The Turkish government will provide the industrial zone with electricity at a low price. It will also secure logistical support, and will facilitate the transit, transport and export of goods,” the state of Gaziantep said in a statement.
In an interview with North Press via WhatsApp, the Turkish journalist said, “There is no safe or economic environment, not even infrastructure. However, the governors go there and say: Look, we built schools and houses, we built roads.”
He pointed out that they “have already started such as a visit to convince some Syrians that they will come here before the elections,” noting that the main purpose of these visits “is related to the elections scheduled for May 4 next year.”
The Turkish journalist said that the Minister of Interior, Suleiman Soylu, “handed over the completed houses in Idlib to the displaced, to show that they care for the Syrians once again.”
On May 9, the administration of Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey revealed in a statement that 1,323 Syrians were deported from Turkey during April.
“The visit of some governors to places such as Azaz, al-Bab and Jarablus, are attempts to give people a sense of safety,” he added.
Is there security?” asks Ibrahimoglu. “Certainly better than before; the environment is safer, but it is still difficult to talk about safe environment, as many posts of the Turkish-backed opposition are still being bombed,” he says.
Turkish journalist ends his speech saying that “the safety of people’s lives and property has not yet been fully guaranteed.”