After opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu vowed to deport all Syrian refugees from Turkey, Erdoğan’s win in Sunday elections brought Syrian refugees a partial sense of safety—tarnished by spiking anti-refugee sentiment in Turkey and the continued threat of deportation.
Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu will vie for the Turkish presidency in a runoff election on May 28th. Were Kılıçdaroğlu to win, Ankara’s policy on Syrian refugee return, normalization with Bashar al-Assad and Turkey’s policy in northern Syria could undergo major shifts.
With Turkey’s 2023 elections in sight and a surge in anti-refugee rhetoric shaping voter preferences, Erdoğan hints at possible reconciliation with Damascus. How could this apparent 180-degree policy shift play out in Syria?
Why is Turkey interested in building housing in northern Syria? Who funds and implements these projects? And why are some human rights actors concerned about Ankara’s activities?
Whether abuses against Syrians in Turkey are exaggerated or not by the media, they have to develop a new integration strategy based on interaction with the Turkish opposition parties.
