Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan affirmed that Syria is moving towards recovery despite the difficulties, obstacles, and acts of sabotage, pointing to his country’s ongoing cooperation with the new Syrian administration until full stability is achieved.
In his speech during an event regarding migration management in Istanbul, which was reported by the Anadolu Agency, Erdoğan stated: “Turkey has hosted millions of Syrian refugees for 13 years, and we will not force anyone to return; we will leave it to their discretion.”
He added, “200,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their country since the fall of the Assad regime.”
Erdoğan continued: “We are in constant cooperation with the new Syrian administration and will continue this until full stability is reached,”
He noted that Syria has begun to recover gradually despite the difficulties, obstacles, and acts of sabotage, and thus the number of Syrians returning to their homeland is increasing.
Erdoğan clarified that “there are 4 million and 33 thousand migrants in Turkey, including 2 million and 768 thousand of our Syrian brothers under temporary protection.”
He pointed out that Western powers that force migrants to flee disappear when it comes to sharing the burdens, emphasizing that he will not allow a small group of racists and savages to constrain Turkey by spreading hate speech in society.
Souha Suleiman