Turkey's mayors offer refugees one-way tickets to Syria

Turkish municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) have launched campaigns ostensibly aimed at helping Syrian refugees return to their country following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

However, the language and tone used in these campaigns - offering to buy transport tickets and cover relocation costs - have drawn widespread criticism for being discriminatory. Serbestiyet, a liberal independent Turkish website, described the campaigns as “racist”.

In Ankara, Kecioren district mayor Mesut Ozarslan posted a message on X addressing “Syrian brothers”. Ozarslan said that his office would arrange to cover all transport expenses to assist Syrians return to their homeland.

Kilis mayor Hakan Bilecen, another CHP-affiliated politician, shared a video of a municipal cleaning vehicle operating near the Oncupinar Border Gate with Syria.

Alongside the footage, he wrote: “We watched with great excitement the celebrations of our Syrian brothers and sisters! We couldn’t remain indifferent to this enthusiasm and would like to express that we are ready to provide every service necessary to bid farewell to our esteemed guests under better conditions on the Turkish side of the Oncupinar Border Gate.”

Turkey has hosted more than three million Syrian refugees over the past decade. However, Turkish society, which has grown increasingly nationalist, has increasingly blamed Syrians for the country’s deepening economic crisis, which has hit low-income neighbourhoods particularly hard and driven up rental prices in major cities.

Since 2021, a series of riots in Ankara and other cities have targeted Syrian businesses and homes, shaking the nation.

One riot in the conservative city of Kayseri last summer caused factories to halt operations, as many Syrians stayed home from work to protect themselves from vigilantes. The mobs blamed Syrians for unsubstantiated claims of sexual assaults on minors.

Promises to deport Syrians

The Turkish government has faced mounting pressure to address the refugee crisis, prompting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to appoint a new interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya. Under Yerlikaya's leadership, numerous Syrians have been deported to Turkish-controlled areas in northern Syria for minor offences.

The opposition has also made the refugee issue a key part of its platform, campaigning during the past two elections on promises to send Syrians back to their country by negotiating a deal with Assad’s government.

'We want to surprise you, especially families with children, for the New Year. Starting tomorrow, you can apply to our public relations office for one-way bus tickets'

- Torbali district mayor Ovunc Demir

In Izmir, Torbali district mayor Ovunc Demir joined the growing list of CHP politicians targeting Syrians.

He posted a video showing Syrians celebrating in the district and announced a campaign to facilitate their return for the New Year.

“As Torbali municipality, we want to surprise you, especially families with children, for the New Year. Starting tomorrow, you can apply to our public relations office for one-way bus tickets,” Demir declared in the video.

Similarly, Beypazari municipality released a statement on social media saying: “Due to the end of the Assad regime in Syria, we, as Beypazari municipality, will be providing transportation services to help our Syrian friends, whom we have hosted for a long time, return to their homeland.

"You can fill out an application form at the information desk on the ground floor of the municipality building.”

Experts note that the majority of refugees in Turkey are from Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Manbij, regions that have fallen under direct Syrian opposition control in the past 10 days.