Istanbul, Turkey – As Turks put together to go to the polls for a presidential run-off, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees within the nation are watching anxiously, unsure about how the result might form their future.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition chief Kemal Kilicdaroglu will face off Sunday within the second spherical of the vote after neither secured a majority within the first on Could 14. Erdogan gained 49.5 % and Kilicdaroglu 44.9 %.
Immigration has been a central subject within the elections. The marketing campaign has seen a number of opposition politicians pledging to expel refugees and migrants whereas the federal government has highlighted its plans to press forward with what it calls “voluntarily” repatriations of Syrians.
In accordance with the United Nations, Turkey has taken in 3.7 million refugees, greater than some other nation on the planet. Within the 12 months main as much as the polls, stress grew on refugees and migrants, particularly Syrians, throughout an financial disaster with hovering inflation, a plunging lira and a deepening cost-of-living crunch.
The state of affairs has left many Syrians in Turkey deeply fearful about their future within the nation.
“I don’t know what’s going to occur after the election,” mentioned Habib, 23, whose identify has been modified to guard his identification.
“They [politicians] say they wish to ship all Syrians again. All of us endure from nervousness on this interval,” mentioned the person who was displaced eight years in the past by Syria’s conflict and presently resides in Istanbul.
Rising nationalism
In accordance with the United Nations refugee company, the overwhelming majority of refugees in Turkey – 3.6 million – are Syrian residing beneath “non permanent safety standing”. About 200,000 Syrians have been given Turkish citizenship because the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, in line with authorities figures.
Whereas Turkey initially welcomed the refugees, offered shelter and entry to training with billions of euros in European Union funding, anti-refugee sentiment has grown in recent times, and refugees have change into scapegoats for Turkey’s financial troubles, which has often led to violence.
Muhammad Siddik Yasar, who runs the Tarlabaşı Solidarity Affiliation, a refugee solidarity group in Istanbul, mentioned anti-refugee sentiment sharpened within the run-up to the elections.
“Being a refugee means that you’re right here as we speak, however you don’t have any assure for tomorrow,” he advised Al Jazeera.
“Persons are asking us what to do. They’re afraid that racism will enhance after the election. I’ve been working with refugees for a few years, and I’ve by no means seen something like this 12 months,” he mentioned.
The rising anti-refugee sentiment manifested itself on the poll field within the first spherical of the elections as nationalists delivered a powerful efficiency, notably the far-right nationalist presidential candidate Sinan Ogan, who gained an sudden 5.2 % of the vote.
Ogan ran because the candidate of the ATA (Ancestral) Alliance, led by the anti-migrant, ultranationalist Victory Occasion. He has since endorsed Erdogan.
“Ogan is an attention-grabbing and necessary phenomenon in Turkish politics,” mentioned Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Analysis Program on the Washington Institute for Close to East Coverage.
“He rallied on one subject solely, anti-refugee, anti-immigrant platform. With no media entry, no rallies and no cash mainly, he acquired 5 %,” Cagaptay mentioned.
For the reason that first spherical, Kilicdaroglu, who’s backed by a broad coalition of opposition events, has doubled down on his place concerning deportations.
“Erdogan, you didn’t defend the borders and honour of our nation,” he mentioned final week. “As quickly as I come to energy, I’ll ship all refugees residence.”
‘Voluntary repatriations’
Dealing with opposition assaults on immigration, the federal government has pressed forward with talks with Damascus in what seems to sign a warming of ties.
This month, the overseas ministers of Turkey, Syria and Iran met in Moscow as a part of the Kremlin’s efforts to dealer a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments after years of antagonism over Syria’s conflict and a number of Turkish army operations in northern Syria.
For his half, al-Assad has demanded that Turkey withdraw from the territories beneath its management in northwest Syria.
The talks have been held as a number of regional leaders have moved to normalise ties with al-Assad. In mid-Could, Syria was readmitted to the Arab League after its membership had been suspended for greater than a decade.
Kilicdaroglu has mentioned he intends to revive ties with al-Assad whereas Erdogan has beforehand mentioned he could meet al-Assad for talks.
In addition to strikes in the direction of a possible rapprochement, Erdogan’s authorities has pushed on with its plan for refugees to “resettle voluntarily” in areas in Syria beneath Turkish safety management.
“We’ve got constructed greater than 100,000 homes for [refugees] in northern Syria,” Erdogan mentioned this month at a gathering of younger individuals in his Justice and Growth Occasion (AK Occasion). “Progressively, Syrian refugees started to settle in these residences.”
“There isn’t a time restrict on this subject,” Erdogan added. “We give our greatest to assist and help them on this regard.”
In accordance with Turkey’s inside ministry, practically 58,000 Syrians returned to their residence nation from November 2021 to October final 12 months.
In a 2022 report, Human Rights Watch documented a whole lot of deportations from February to July final 12 months, which the federal government said have been voluntary departures.
Many Syrians are cautious concerning the prospect of returning to their residence nation because the conflict there continues. Habib mentioned he fears being drafted into the military if he have been to return to Syria.
“If I’m transferred to Bashar [al-Assad], I might be in a really crucial situation, and my household wouldn’t have anybody to assist them,” he mentioned.
Salim Cevik, a researcher on the Centre for Utilized Turkey Research on the German Institute for Worldwide and Safety Affairs, mentioned there was “no simple and fast answer to Turkey’s migration subject”.
“There isn’t a repatriation coverage doable any time quickly,” he mentioned. “The extra life like coverage would in all probability discover methods to combine them into Turkish society. However that is one thing that no politician can say in public.”
