Turkiye calls on international community to cooperate on safe, voluntary return of Syria refugees

Children walk in a camp for Syrian refugee in Turkey set up by Turkish relief agency AFAD in the Islahiye district of Gaziantep [Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images]

Turkiye has called on the international community to cooperate with it in achieving the voluntary and safe return of Syrian refugees to their country, as Ankara continues to make their return a key policy goal.

A statement issued on Thursday evening by Turkiye’s National Security Council emphasised the importance of the international community’s cooperation on the matter of Syrian refugees and their voluntary, safe, and dignified return.

It also highlighted Turkiye’s aim to continue operations against terrorist organisations both at home and across its borders, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its alleged affiliate militant groups and branches in north-east Syria.

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The National Security Council’s call for the international community’s cooperation comes after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s stated recently during his presidential election campaign that his government “will encourage our [Syrian] brothers, who sought refuge in our country fleeing the war and the attacks of terrorist organisations, to voluntarily return to their homeland safely and honourably.”

Emphasising his policy of a voluntary return of the refugees, in contrast to the opposition’s vows to forcefully deport them, Erdogan had stated that Ankara “will contribute to peace and stability on a global scale by maintaining our pioneering foreign policy and active humanitarianism.”

In efforts to facilitate the safe and voluntary return of the refugees, the Turkish government has, in recent years, been building houses and residential towns in the areas its military and affiliated Syrian militant groups hold in northern Syria. Those dwellings are fitted with essential services, as well as educational and healthcare facilities, and around half a million Syrians have reportedly already returned to those areas.

READ: Is Turkiye democratic enough not to apply forced repatriation and politicising refugees?

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