QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – When Syrian crisis erupted early in 2011, Turkey said Syria’s plight is Turley’s too. With the development of events and surging military confrontation which were mostly concentrated in northwest Syria around Latakia and Idlib, Turkey opened its border to the Syrians fleeing the carnage there.
Syrian refugees in Turkey were not classified as refugees, they were rather guests. Turkey welcomed Syrian merchants and factories to be transferred into Turkey. The Turkish nationality was bestowed upon large numbers of Syrians. However, those were the most distinctive ones.
However, as the crisis in Syria prolongs, and no solutions appears on the horizon, this adds more burdens to the Turkish government of Justice and Development Party (AKP) which is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Hostility by ultra-nationalist parties and by host communities is rising.
The case which was a humanitarian one at the onset, turned into a cultural and a political plight in the country which could bore unwanted outcomes in future.
It is true that Syrian refugees revived the Turkish economy most notably in Istanbul, however, it is true too that the success by the Syrians there are not most welcomed by a class of the Turkish people.
In the past, Turkey faced difficulties to cope with the refugees the matter caused undesirable consequences. This happened in 1991 when millions of Iraqi Kurds fleeing former Iraqi President Saddam Husain found themselves in Turkey.
Within the staggering Turkish economy to the devaluation of the Turkish lira compared to the USD, many Turks put the blame on the Syrian refugees ‘who are present everywhere’, they say.
Unless Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finds a solution, the refugee card is going to play into the hands of the opposition.
The racist reaction against the Syrian refugees were separate occurrences. However, since August 2021, the situation seems to be changing for the worst; it takes a more communal dimensions. It has turned into a problem in the whole of the country.
On July 13, Sultan Jibneh, from Homs, was stabbed to death in a brawl with Turkish youths in Taksim in Istanbul.
Earlier, a video went viral on social media outlets showing a Turkish young man kicking a female Syrian refugee called Salma Muhammad, 70, raising agitation to Syrians as it indicated “stark racism”.
Early in 2022, Turkish youths attacked and broke facades of shops of Syrians in Ankara and Istanbul after a number of Turkish soldiers were killed in Syria.
In 2021 the same scenario happened in Adana, where a number of Syrian refugees’ houses were attacked after allegedly a Syrian stabbed a Turkish in a brawl.
Turkey which hosts at least million refugees and asylum seekers more than any other country in the world seems fed up with that.
But why Syrian refugees living in Turkey do not return home?
The majority of those living in Turkey come from Damascus, Aleppo, Homs and Hama governorates among others. These areas were hotbeds of the revolution for long years. Right now, they are under the full control of Syrian government forces. Security measures are very strict to return. The majority are enrolled on the most delicate list which is serving in reserved forces of the government. In addition, under Property Law No. 10, all properties are seized by the Syrian government and bestowed upon pro-government affiliates, soldiers and officers.
Yet areas held by Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA) are already overcrowded. IDP tents spread everywhere. The camps lack basic needs of a dignified living. They are not protected from the scorching heat of summer nor from the breezing cool of winter. Besides, there are no jobs. International organizations cannot cope with large mass population living there.
Part of the alleged Erdogan operation to be carried out in Tel Rifaat and Manbij is to “voluntarily return” Syrian refuges to their country, however not to their original towns and cities. The anti-immigration in Turkey is on the rise against Syrians.
Just as other countries around the world Turkey, which one time took pride to receive Syrians, is no longer a welcoming country to people fled the carnage at its southern borders.
Immigration, namely the presence of the Syrian refugees and the implied problems, is a card that to be extensively deployed in the Turkish presidential election scheduled for 2023. Unless an overall solution is found Erdogan would lose such a card to play a year ahead.
Forcible deportation by the Turkish authorities is recently on the rise too. Last night, 30 Syrian youths were deported by Bab al-Salameh border crossing in the north of Aleppo to the Syrian side of the border.
A source told North Press that the 30 youths had their residence documents dully shown to the authorities, nonetheless, they were involuntarily forced to return to their country of origin.