'Borders are our honor': CHP hangs giant banner amid Afghan refugee influx

The CHP on Aug. 18 hung a giant banner on the party headquarters that read, "Borders are our honor" amid the new Afghan refugee influx. CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has been slamming President Erdoğan's refugee policies.

Wednesday August 18 2021 02:47 pm

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The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has hung a giant banner on the party headquarters in the capital Ankara that read, "Borders are our honor," as Turkey faces a new Afghan refugee influx.

The banner was hung on Aug. 18, a day after six ultranationalists, who call themselves "Angry young Turks," were detained for hanging banners reading the same phrase, as well as another that said, "I don't want refugees in my country" in Istanbul.

Those detained for hanging the banner are seen doing the Gray Wolves sign upon being released on Aug. 17.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who has been slamming President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's policies on refugees, changed his Twitter header that also had the same phrase on borders.

#SınırNamustur pic.twitter.com/JP4AYl3dup
— CHP 🇹🇷 (@herkesicinCHP) August 18, 2021

President Erdoğan on Aug. 15 said that Turkey faces a new Afghan refugee influx amid the Taliban's takeover of the country. Thousands of Afghans have already crossed into Turkey from the eastern province of Van bordering Iran.

Erdoğan's remarks on a new influx drew a harsh rebuke from Kılıçdaroğlu, who has been criticizing the government for allowing uncontrolled refugee passage, while calling on the president to reveal what he promised to the U.S. in exchange for keeping refugees in Turkey.

"Erdoğan, I'm asking you: How can refugees who are 2,400 kilometers away from us threaten us? You said your government is in control of the borders? Is it not true? We know that you're not in control deliberately," the CHP chair said on Aug. 16.

"You're admitting that you can't protect the borders and that you're keeping your promise to [U.S. President Joe] Biden," Kılıçdaroğlu added, before going on to ask whether foreign countries are threatening Erdoğan with his personal wealth.

Right-wing Good (İYİ) Party leader Meral Akşener has also been calling on the government to implement a stricter border policy, saying that the influx must be prevented.

"There is no stupider policy than opening the borders," she said on Aug. 16, noting that Turkey already houses over 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

"This government doesn't have a refugee policy," she added.