CHP leader warns against provocation through refugees
ANKARA
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu warned that there was provocation through Afghan and Syrian refugees.
“It is clear that what has been done about Afghan and Syrian refugees in our country in recent days is a provocation,” he tweeted on Aug. 11.
“We will solve this refugee problem, and of course, we will do it with common sense,” he added.
Meanwhile, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Ömer Çelik also called for common sense against “provocations.”
In his statement on social media, Çelik stated that the perpetrators of the incident in which Emirhan Yalçın was killed in a street fight were detained.
He criticized the opposition parties for using “language of hatred” on the issue of refugees.
“Of course, competition is necessary for politics. However, the divisive and polarizing language of hate can never be considered as opposition. It is obvious how great are the dangers that can be caused by the language of hatred that some politicians have used for a long time against refugees. We neither allow anyone in our country to make provocations in the guise of refugees nor do we allow those who try to create hatred against refugees,” Çelik tweeted.
He emphasized that the place of solution for the complaints of the citizens was the police and judiciary institutions. “We follow all the concerns of our citizens. We do the necessary work and take the necessary measures,” he stated.
Police on Aug. 12 detained dozens of people after a mob of angry men smashed shops and cars believed to belong to Syrian refugees in the capital Ankara.
The Ankara Police Department said they detained 76 people who were either suspected of “damaging property” during the events or of disseminating incendiary social media posts.
The unrest broke out late on Aug. 10 in response to a fight between locals and refugees in which one Turkish national was stabbed to death. A crowd attacked shops and homes belonging to Syrians in Altındağ district overnight in the wake of the street fight.