Ahead of the second round of Turkey’s elections, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has deployed tougher rhetoric, promising to return millions of asylum seekers to their countries of origin, writes Politico.
On Thursday, the 18th of May, Kilicdaroglu gave a speech in which he said that Erdogan has deliberately allowed millions of refugees and immigrants to enter the country, stating that this is how Turkish citizenship is traded and “imported votes” are obtained. The opposition presidential candidate said he would send the refugees away immediately after his election.
Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, most of them from Syria and other Arab countries.
In 2016, when Europe was hit by the refugee crisis, the European Union signed an agreement with Turkey to reduce illegal migration to Europe, using Turkey as a corridor.
Kilicdaroglu will compete with Erdogan in the second round of the Turkish presidential election on the 28th of May, as none of the candidates won at least 50% of the vote. In the first round of the elections, Kilicdaroglu won 45% of the votes, while Erdogan – 49%. This means that there is a tough battle ahead for the seat of the head of state.
Kilicdaroglu has previously promised to return refugees to Syria within two years.
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