Newsroom, Syria (North Press) – Syrian refugees in Turkey anxiously await with growing fear results of the country’s ongoing presidential election, as they have emerged as a political flashpoint in the election, as well as, statements of Turkish officials, who are now talking about coordination with the Syrian government in order to solve the refugees’ issue.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told TRT Haber channel while talking about the runoff election in the country that “the issue of the return of refugees is on the agenda of the four-way meeting in Moscow between Turkey, Iran, Russia and Syria.”
He noted that his country has returned Syrian refugees “to their dormitories to start with briquette houses in the north of Syria.”
“But now we have a plan that 1 million refugees will return to the target.” Erdogan added.
The Turkish president also revealed that 560,000 refugees have returned to Syria.
The runoff election will be held in Turkey on May 28 following failure of both Erdogan and his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu to hit the 50% threshold needed to win the presidential vote outright on May 14.
On May 14, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu, unveiled a roadmap for the return of Syrian refugees to their country, noting that this issue was the first issue in the Moscow meeting.
Ghazwan Qoronfol, a Syrian human rights activist residing in Turkey, told north Press via Whatsapp, “What the Turkish minister said reaffirms Turkey’s new policy towards the conflict in Syria, which has accepted the end of this conflict in favor of the Syrian regime, which requires re-adjusting its relations in line with this conclusion.”
Cavusoglu claimed that discussions with the Syrian government are underway to secure the necessary infrastructure for the return of refugees.
“It is clear that the possibility of returning the refugees to Syria, including to the areas under the control of the Syrian regime, is the outcome of coordination with the regime itself, from which Turkey will try to obtain mere statements to guarantee the safety of the returnees,” Qoronfol added.
However, he stressed that the refugees’ worries are normal, because they would face unknown fate if they were forcibly deported.
Relatedly, in March 2016, the EU-Turkey Refugee Deal was signed. Turkey and the EU decided that Turkey receives 6 billion Euros ($6.6 billion) to improve the humanitarian situation faced by refugees and stop refugees from travelling onward to the EU, while Turkish nationals are granted visa-free travel to Europe.
Return to detentions or graves
Sheikh Mudar Hammad al-Asaad, head of Istanbul-based Association of Syria Refugees, told North Press, “Syrian refugees in Turkey were concerned before the elections. If Erdogan wins, fears about their deportation will vanish completely, as it will be voluntary after providing infrastructure in northern Syria.”
Al-Asaad said that reason behind the Syrians’ displacement “the al-Assad regime and the Iranian militias,” are still there, preventing the refugees from returning to their country.
He affirmed that no Syrian refugee in Turkey “wants to return to the Syrian regime-held areas, because returning to these areas means returning to detentions or graves.”
He stressed that the refugees will not return to these areas, even with guarantees from the United Nations or the Arab League, “because the al-Assad regime does not abide by covenants and international charters.”
Mere political statements
Walid Ibrahim, head of the Syrian Turkmen Renaissance Party(suriye Türkmen kalkınma partisi), told North Press via Whatsapp, “Turkey will not deport the refugees, and this is clear in the Turkish statements, whether by the Turkish Foreign Minister or any other official, all of which focus on the return of refugees in case a safe environment is available.”
He pointed out that what Turkey stresses and wants is a “safe return for the refugees, but the Syrian regime, in light of these facts and circumstances, will not achieve what is required from it without reaching a political solution stipulated in the UN Resolution No. 2254.”
The Syrian politician said that the Turkish statements are mere political statements rather than actual deeds in order “to keep the door open for negotiations with the regime in response to Russia’s will.”