Turkiye will not accept repatriation of migrants in new deal with UK, sources clarify

Turkiye has assured that it will not accept irregular migrants to its territory from third countries, after a new deal with the United Kingdom to tackle people smuggling raised speculation that it would do so.

Earlier this week, the UK government announced that British and Turkish police services had agreed to conduct joint operations to combat “disrupt and dismantle” human smuggling networks in an effort to stem organised illegal immigration and directly hit the supply chain of parts for small boats that are notoriously used by smugglers. Part of that strategy includes the establishment of a “Centre of Excellence” to help coordinate such operations and intelligence sharing.

It came as the latest effort by British authorities to tackle the increased waves of migrants and asylum seekers who cross the English Channel with the help of such smugglers, with the UK aiming to address the issue alongside Turkiye due to the latter country’s position as a prominent conduit for migrants seeking to pass into Europe.

That deal, however, sparked fears that Ankara had accepted the return of third country nationals who had reached the UK back into Turkish territory, with some British media outlets such as the Daily Mail also reporting that it allows the repatriation of Turkish citizens who had fled to British shores.

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Those suspicions raised significant outrage amongst Turks who grow increasingly frustrated with the presence of around four million refugees and irregular migrants within their country, as well as what they perceive as the Turkish government’s outsourcing of its migration policy to foreign states. Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, for example, accused the government of allowing foreign interference in Turkish domestic issues, calling it “extremely serious and problematic” that London had announced the agreement instead of Ankara.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, however, anonymous Turkish sources who are familiar with the issue told it that “it is absolutely out of the question” that Turkiye would accept third country nationals from Britain.

Those sources also reportedly stressed that Turkiye would not welcome back nationals who flee in such a way, claiming that the asylum seekers who cross Europe and reach the UK as their destination are criminals or individuals linked to groups such as the movement of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Ankara accuses of being a terrorist organisation responsible for the failed coup of July 2016.

“Those who leave are those who slander Turkey and seek asylum”, one of the sources was quoted as saying. “Most of them are individuals affiliated with terrorist organisations.”

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