Turkey to launch new project for return of 1 million Syrians

ISTANBUL

Turkey is working on a new major construction project in Idlib province of Syria for the return of 1 million Syrians, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced, 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’ return]. 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 the Syrians at the ceremony.

“We will realize this project with the support of national and international civil society.”

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.

Erdoğan highlighted that some 57,306 houses have already been built and an additional 20,000 houses will be constructed in new residential areas with mosques, schools, health centers and social facilities.

“Nobody leaves home without reason. Nobody voluntarily risks his or her future. It is our humanitarian duty to open our borders and hearts to those who face such an obligation,” Erdoğan stated, underlining that Turkey has fully fulfilled its duty in the best way.

Recalling that some half a million Syrians have already been settled in the regions cleared from the terror groups in northern Syria thanks to the military operations carried out by the Turkish army since 2016, Erdoğan said.

Criticizing the West for its discriminative policies over refugees, he said: “When we look at the sufferers, we only see human beings. We never look at their race, the color of their hair or eyes, their faith or language.”

With this understanding, Turkey has become the leading country delivering humanitarian aid to the entire world, from Afghanistan to Pakistan, from Bangladesh to Palestine, from Yemen to Ukraine, he suggested, informing that more than 100 trucks of humanitarian aid have been sent to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.