Kılıçdaroğlu reiterates vow to send refugees back to homeland

HATAY

The Nation Alliance’s presidential candidate and the chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, on March 14 once again reiterated his vow to send refugees back to their country of origin if the opposition comes to power in the upcoming elections.

Kılıçdaroğlu visited the zero point with the Syrian border in the southern province of Hatay. He said they aim to send refugees that entered Türkiye from Syrian and Iranian borders back within two years at the latest.

“I’ve come to the zero point of the border. I have come to tell my nation that I remain determined on an issue. My presidency has two important goals: The first is to send the Syrians back to their homeland. The second is to send those who came illegally via Iran back to Iran,” he tweeted.

“We have to give back our streets and neighborhoods to their owners. However, we have to do this sensitively, so as not to stigmatize our nation with racism. We are working on it,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

The CHP leader said they have been working on a project on the issue. But at the same time, they aim to make Türkiye the most powerful leading country in the Mediterranean, he emphasized.

“I will put a big and international project in front of our nation. The program we are working on includes both solving the refugee problem and creating an important political leadership role for Türkiye in the Mediterranean region through this process,” he stated.

Kılıçdaroğlu noted that his second concern is to stop any illegal entry to Türkiye. “For us, the issue is very simple: Border security is national security. Border security is the most fundamental and necessary responsibility of a sovereign nation. Those who cannot protect their borders cannot be sovereign,” he said.

“In brief, we will say goodbye to our Syrian guests in two years. I will close the border to all kinds of illegal crossings in the first week of my presidency,” Kılıçdaroğlu explained.