IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Since Turkey entered Syria it has always supported Syrian Turkmen considering them a spearhead for its policies in the region. It has directly supported Suleiman Shah Division (al-Amshat) and Sultan Murad Division, both made up of Turkmen.
Two days ago, it signed a protocol to build a new settlement in Idlib, northwest Syria, for Syrian Turkmen.
Turkey has built settlements for years in different areas in Idlib and Afrin aiming to settle Syrian refugees living on the Turkish soil under pompous slogans considered by activists as pretexts for demographic change in Syria. On September 5, Turkey announced opening “Zaim Village Compound.” A Turkish settlement supported by Palestinians close to the village of al-Muhamadiya, south Jinderis, in the countryside of Afrin.
Such a policy is not strange to Turkey. However, this settlement is exclusive to Syrian Turkmen.
On October 27, the Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Şafak said in report that the company owned by former MP for Justice and Development Party (AKP), businessman Sabri Faran and his wife, intends to build a new settlement in the countryside of Idlib to be exclusive to Syrian Turkmen.
Ethically-oriented settlement
Taha al-Ghazi, an activist in refugees issues, said, “Any project runs under charities where beneficiaries are selected on sectarian or ethnical grounds is absolutely no longer a charity.”
Al-Ghazi told North Press that the project would open the way for similar ones “based on ethnic grounds,” adding that it contradicts all regulations put by NGOs or governments regarding dealing with refugee issues.
Al-Ghazi said Turkmen, Kurds and Armenians are basic components of the Syrian society. “There had never been discrimination before the revolution as it is the case today.”
These kind of projects aim at implementing “demographic change in northern Syria,” wondering how Turkey has the right to give Turkish names to such projects.
According to al-Ghazi, the Syrian opposition’s institutions are completely absent regarding the Turkish projects that aim at returning Syrian refugees to northern Syria. In fact, they even helped in establishing these settlements, he said.
Turkish names
The aforementioned report by Yeni Şafak Newspaper said the project, which includes a settlement made up of 450 housing units, would bear the name Kumushane, in reference to the Turkish province that has the same name.
The streets of the settlement would be named Kumushane, Turol, Seran, Kekit, Kus and Korton while the main square in the settlement would be named “Meidan Gumushane.”
In a statement to the newspaper, the Turkish businessman Sabri Faran said, “We have done this blessed work by donations estimated at 10 million Turkish liras based on instructions given by our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in coordination with Minister for Interior Affairs Suleiman Soylu and officials in the Disaster and Emergency Management.”
“We have reached this advanced phase of the protocol signed and Turkmen will reside in 450 houses that are scheduled to be completed at the end of the year.”
Presidential elections
All moves by Turkey – from seeking rapprochement with the Syrian government to claims of securing a safe return for Syrian refugees to their country – aim at obtaining political gains as the presidential elections approach.
The refugees’ issue is one of the debatable ones in Turkey and it is to be exploited by the Turkish opposition and the government, each for their ends.
Early in September, Asli Aydıntaşbaş, an associate senior policy fellow with the Wider Europe program at the European Council on Foreign Relation, told CNN, “Gestures toward the Syrian regime would likely be part of Erdogan’s election pledge.”
“Conciliatory statements by Turkish officials are however a calculated move directed at the domestic audience ahead of elections next year, Asli Aydintasbas,” she added.
For his part, Muaz Ibrahim Oglu, a Turkish journalist told North Press, “The Turkish opposition will target Syrians in coming elections.”
Oglu added, “The Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will not lift a finger when voices rise against Syrians who could be targets in different areas.”
Syrians are suffering from increasing hatred and discrimination that reach murder in many cases. A recently report released by Human Rights Watch revealed that Turkey had deported tens of thousands of Syrians who were tortured in detention centers.