CHP leader urges Erdoğan to strengthen border security

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader has called for better border security of Turkey with its southern neighbor, while responding to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s pledge for a project that will ensure the return of 1 million Syrians to their homeland.

The project of Erdoğan is not realistic, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said on May 3, calling on the government to “alert the security forces and do not allow a single fugitive to cross the border” if they seek a solution.

Kılıçdaroğlu said on Twitter that his party would make efforts to send back Syrian refugees to their homeland in two years if they come to power.

Turkey is working on a new major construction project in Idlib province of Syria for the return of 1 million Syrians, Erdoğan announced on May 3, informing that it will be held with the participation of national and international non-governmental organizations.

“Some 500,000 Syrians have returned to the safe regions [in Syria]. Constructing briquette houses was one of the steps [for Syrians’ returns]. We are now working on a new project for the voluntary return of 1 million Syrians. It’s a very substantial project that we will carry out with local governments in 13 different regions, including Azez, Jarablus and Tal Abyad,” Erdoğan said in a video message at a ceremony held by the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) in Idlib on May 3. New briquette houses in different parts of the Idlib region were distributed to Syrians at the ceremony.

He also vowed that similar housing projects will be implemented in other regions of Syria once security is provided for the voluntary return of Syrians.

Turkey has been hosting around 3.8 million Syrians who fled the civil war in Syria since 2011. In a plan to let Syrians return to their homeland in a safe way, the Turkish government has constructed tens of thousands of briquette houses in Idlib province.