Turkish politician renews pledge to stop flow of refugees by laying mines on borders

It appears from the statements of the opposition parties and the government’s steps with regard to refugees, that there is agreement between the two sides to limit the presence of refugees, even if the means are different.

In a post on Twitter, on Tuesday, the head of the National Party, who is in charge of its program to deport refugees, said: “The only solution for entry of asylum seekers is to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention and plant mines on our borders.”

Ozdag posted a video of asylum seekers cheating the chain 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 parties of the opposition “Umma” coalition, made the refugee file a cornerstone of propaganda during the elections of May 14 and 28, amid accusations that refugees are one of the causes of the economic crisis, and that the naturalized among them voted for their rival, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“useless” policy

Turkish political analyst Cevdet Yilmaz underestimated the victory party’s campaign on the refugee issue, telling Sky News Arabia that it “does not resonate with the government and many Turks.”

He inferred this from the weakness of the result obtained by the nationalist “Ata” coalition, which is led by the Victory Party, during the parliamentary elections. It was only about 2% of the vote.

The Turkish analyst attributes Ozdag’s interest in this file to the fact that “he is trying 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 over the economic 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 is like the nationalist movement.”

Apparent disagreement?

• Ozdaa previously vowed, in June 2022, in a speech in the state of Adana, to plant mines on the borders to prevent the flow of refugees if he came to power.
• At that time, Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu responded sarcastically, calling him “crazy” and promoting “racism and xenophobia” discourse.
• However, the disagreement in the discourse of the government and the opposition parties regarding the refugees appears to be “apparent”; The government is already taking steps to deport them, but in gradual and quieter steps.
• Erdogan’s speech during his election campaign was not devoid of promises to deport them, but on a “voluntary” basis. In his first comment after winning the second round of the elections, on May 28, he confirmed that his government “will secure the return of an additional million Syrian refugees”; No refugees have ever been returned.
• In the midst of the elections, the Turkish Interior Minister, Suleiman Soylu, and the Director General of the Qatar Development Fund, Khalifa Al-Kuwari, laid the foundation stone for a new housing project in northern Syria on May 24. 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 deport the Syrians.

Who is Umit Ozda?

He was a member of the National Movement Party, before he was expelled from it in 2020, to join the nationalist “good” party, and he resigned from it in 2021.

A few months later, he founded the “Victory” party, with the refugee file at the top of its program.

Ozdag lost his seat in the Turkish parliament during the recent elections, and the “Victory” party won 2.25% of the votes in the elections, and could not pass the 7% limit to enter parliament.

After the loss, Özdag said, “We should have got more votes in a country where 13 million refugees and illegal immigrants live, and unfortunately now it is difficult to bring these 13 million back home.”