Turkish main opposition leader calls for abolition of temporary protection status of Syrians

Turkish main opposition CHP leader Özgür Özel has stated that Syrians in the country should return to their homelands, arguing, “There is no Assad, no regime, there is no reason for them to stay here.” He also called for the abolition of their temporary protection status.

Duvar English

Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel continued his party’s anti-immigration policy and called for the return of all Syrians to their homelands following Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.

Speaking at the CHP headquarters before a party assembly meeting on Dec. 17, Özel said they had four priorities regarding Syria. 

“First, territorial integrity in Syria. The second is a regime that will include all Syrians. The third is the protection of our troops there and the fourth is the return of Syrians in our country to their country.”

“There is no Assad, there is no regime, there is no reason for Syrians to stay here,” Özel said, calling for the temporary protection status of Syrians to be abolished.

“We see that people have not the same excitement Erdoğan has (regarding developments in Syria). There are more than 4 million Syrian refugees in our country. To say that ‘we won,’ you either win a military victory, or you win territory, or money. You have lost 283 martyrs and civilian martyrs, you have lost 200 billion dollars, and you say ‘we won.’ Erdogan did not win in Syria, Israel and the US did. An interim period has begun in which it is not clear how much it will serve Turkey's national interests,” he added.

“Now it is time for Syrians to go back home. I think they will return having learned from Turkey that having a democracy with strong roots is more important than one-man rule. Turkey's problem is the over four million Syrians still in Turkey,” Özel said. 

He further noted that they should return “not with violence, but with legal coercion.”

Özel also criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“We do not find Merkel's approach of agreeing with one man in the Middle East, keeping the deal secret. I say to Von Der Leyen, this is a country with a parliament and a CHP that is a candidate for government despite Erdoğan's ignoring it,” he said.

After meeting with Erdoğan on Dec. 17 in Turkey, von der Leyen said Turkey would receive an extra one billion euros for Syrian refugees for the 2024 budget.

According to official figures, Turkey hosts around three million Syrians under temporary protection status.

After Assad’s ouster, President Erdoğan welcomed Syrians who would like to stay in Turkey.

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