Turkish opposition’s litmus test: Syrian refugees

For the last decade, the refugee issue is one of most important topics on the agenda of both voters and politicians in Turkey. With the upcoming elections, the refugee issue, especially in relation to Syrians, occupies an even more central place. The issue is closely related to the foreign policy and security approaches of the parties that make up the Nation Alliance. In the Memorandum of Understanding on Common Policies announced by the Nation Alliance on January 30, it states that arrangements will be made regarding the migration policies of Turkey including the refugee issue.

In the election campaigns of politicians of the Nation Alliance, the rhetoric about refugees, in general, and Syrian refugees, in particular, swings on a pendulum with populism at one end and welfare nationalism at the other. Syrians, who are referred to as “refugees” in this article stemming from the widespread use of the term in Turkey and who are under “temporary protection” due to their legal status, are the litmus test of the Nation Alliance’s democratic values, its adherence to international legal norms, and its ambiguous approach and policies towards terrorist organizations in Syria.

In recent years, there has been a growing ruthlessness and hostility towards refugees in Turkey, as evidenced by public opinion surveys and academic studies. The two largest parties of the Nation Alliance, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the IYI Party, have been making harsh statements against refugees, transforming voter sentiment towards refugees into political capital under three headings: fear of demographic change, reduction of economic and employment shares, and security concerns.

For a while now, politicians from the CHP and the IYI Party have been openly claiming that Turkey’s demographics are changing. During his visit to Hatay on March 14, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the opposition presidential candidate, stated that the Nation’s Alliance does not have any prejudice against any country, citizen, or foreigner, but they want to live freely in their own country and do not want the demographic structure of their country to change.

On February 28, IYI Party’s chairman and chief advisor Turhan Çömez claimed that the places evacuated by earthquake victims were filled by Syrians, and “unfortunately” the demographic structure has changed in favor of Syrians.

Although there is a connection between these statements, the obvious purpose of the rhetoric is to incite hatred and anger among the public against the Turkish government and the country’s president. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) politicians, who are the secret partner of the Nation Alliance who claim to have an egalitarian and humane approach to refugees, have also been asserting the so-called deliberate demographic change for some time now.

However, this is an empty claim if we look at southeastern Anatolia where HDP is politically active and its politicians make provocative statements about Syrian refugees. In a sense, the propaganda of “Syrians are everywhere” has become a form of phobia, a “Syriophobia,” and silence implies consent. It is safe to say that the other alliance partners, namely the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), Future Party, Felicity Party, and Democrat Party, agree with these sentiments.

When economic issues arise anywhere in the world, it is unfortunately common for refugees to be unjustly scapegoated. It is both easy and dangerous to mobilize the masses using economic motives, as anti-refugee political movements have done in Europe. Unfortunately, now, in Turkey, there is a political party—still in the periphery— that is doing just this.

Politics Today