It emerges from the statements of the opposition parties and the government’s actions with regard to the refugees, that there is an agreement between the two camps to limit the presence of the refugees, even if the means are different.
In a Twitter post on Tuesday, the leader of the National Party, which is in charge of its refugee deportation programme, said: “The only solution for the entry of asylum seekers is to withdraw from the Convention of Ottawa and to lay mines on our borders.”
Ozdag posted a video of asylum seekers tricking the channel across the border, saying that according to Iranian sources, 20,000 Afghan nationals entered Turkey last month.
The Victory Party, and other parties affiliated with it, in addition to the opposition ‘Umma’ coalition parties, made the refugee issue a cornerstone of propaganda in the May 14-28 elections , amid accusations that the refugees were one of the causes of the economic crisis, and that the naturalized among them voted for their rival, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“unnecessary” policy
Turkish political analyst Cevdet Yilmaz underestimated the Victory Party’s campaign on the refugee issue, telling Sky News Arabia that it “finds no resonance with the government and many Turks”.
He deduced this from the weakness of the result obtained by the nationalist coalition “Ata”, led by the Victory Party, in the legislative elections. It was only about 2% of the vote.
The Turkish analyst attributes Ozdag’s interest in this file to the fact that “he tries to present himself as a protector of Turkish values, and a leader of the nationalists, in order to win over the masses, taking advantage of the anger against the economy situation, but even the nationalist movement has many parties, such as the National Movement Party and the Good Party, and some of them are even allied with the party. “The ruling Justice and Development Party is like the nationalist movement.
Apparent disagreement?
Ozdaa had previously promised, in June 2022, in a speech delivered in Adana state, to plant landmines on the borders to prevent the influx of refugees if he came to power. At that time, Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu responded sarcastically, calling him “crazy” and promoting “racist and xenophobic” speech. However, the disagreement in government and opposition rhetoric regarding refugees appears to be “apparent”; The government is already taking steps to expel them, but in a gradual and more discreet way. Erdogan’s speech during his election campaign was not devoid of promises to expel them, but on a “voluntary” basis. In his first comment after winning the second round of elections on May 28, he confirmed that his government “will ensure the return”. one million additional Syrian refugeesâ€; No refugee has ever been returned. Amid the elections, then-Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu and Qatar Development Fund Managing Director Khalifa Al-Kuwari laid the foundation stone for a new project on May 24. housing in northern Syria; preparation for the reception of refugees. Also during the elections, a poll conducted by the British newspaper “The Guardian” showed that at least 80% of Turks want to expel Syrians.
Who is Umit Ozda?
He was a member of the National Movement Party, before being expelled from it in 2020, to join the “good” nationalist party, and he resigned in 2021.
A few months later, he founded the “Victoire” party, with the refugee issue at the top of his program.
Ozdag lost its seat in the Turkish parliament in the recent elections, and the “Victory” party won 2.25% of the vote in the elections and could not exceed the 7% limit to enter parliament.
After the defeat, Özdag said: “We should have gotten more votes in a country where 13 million refugees and illegal immigrants live, and unfortunately it is now difficult to send those 13 million back to their country of origin. “
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