Erdogan uses refugees to blackmail the West, perpetuate occupation in Syria

 Turkey has used the file of Syrian refugees in Turkey to achieve its political goals in Syria and the region.

 Although Erdogan has used the Syrians on more than one occasion, and over the years of the Syrian crisis, as a political card from which he gained a lot, his recent announcement regarding the settlement of more than a million Syrian refugees in the Syrian areas occupied by Turkey in the north of the country is considered one of the most dangerous Turkish policies  And many believe that its repercussions will extend for many years.

 blackmail

 Turkey hosts more than 3 and a half million refugees on its soil, and they are not only Syrians, and the Turkish government obtains money from Europeans in exchange for sponsoring them and closing the way for those wishing to go to the old continent.

 Turkey quickly realized that the Europeans did not want to see refugee convoys entering European countries one by one, so it concluded an agreement with the European Union in 2016, stipulating the return of new refugees who arrived on the Greek islands, and not allowing waves of immigration to Europe, in exchange for the latter granting financial support  for Ankara.

 In December 2020, the European Union announced the completion of a €6 billion payment to Turkey.

 But the issue for Turkey is not only about money. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used refugees as a pressure card in the file of Turkey’s accession to the union, and he also threatened more than once, despite the agreement, to allow refugees to flow to Europe, unless Brussels supports Turkey’s plans to establish the so-called the "safe zone" in northern Syria.

 In the wake of the European Union’s criticism of the Turkish military attack, in which Turkey occupied the cities of Serêkaniyê/Ras al-Ain and Gire Spi/Tal Abyad, Erdogan threatened the Union to open the Turkish borders to refugees in November 2019, and demanded more international support to implement his vision regarding refugees.

 The Europeans realize that Turkey's allowing refugees to cross into the continent's lands will be accompanied by many crises at several levels. What the European Union leaders fear most is the escalation of extremism and terrorist operations within European cities, and the empowerment of militants, after the countries of the Union witnessed dozens of terrorist operations.

 With the absence of any chances for a solution in Syria, and Erdogan holding the Syrians in Turkey as hostages while not allowing them to return to other than the areas occupied by Turkey, the refugees in Turkey from the Syrians and others remain a dagger in the side of the Europeans.

 The demographic change in northern Syria

 In Syria, Turkey’s plans do not differ in terms of danger. Erdogan’s government uses European money and some Arabs, such as Qataris, to build settlement units inside the Syrian territories occupied by Turkey.

 Turkey has occupied the cities of Jarablus, Azaz, Al-Rai and Al-Bab since August 2016, the city of Afrin since March 2018, and the cities of Serêkaniyê / Ras al-Ain and Girê Spî / Tal Abyad, since October 2019.

 Turkey continues to threaten to occupy more Syrian lands, and uses the pretexts of "preserving Turkish national security" to displace the Syrians, rob their lands and properties, and turn their homes into Turkish land.

 On the 3rd of May, the Turkish President made a serious announcement, saying that they were preparing for the voluntary return of one million Syrian refugees hosted by Turkey, with the support of "Turkish and international organizations."

 Erdogan revealed that 500,000 Syrians had returned before now to the areas occupied by Turkey, and stated that Turkey was preparing to build settlement units in 13 Syrian regions, and indicated that "57,306 houses have been completed in northern Syria to date, as part of the campaign to build 77,000 homes."

 Erdogan returned to talking about the issue on the 9th of this month, and said that they are working to build 200,000 housing units in northern Syria, and that one million Syrian refugees are ready to return voluntarily to it.

 The Turkish plan provoked negative reactions among the Syrians, most of whom saw that it does not serve them, but rather benefits Turkey and supports plans for demographic change and discrimination among Syrians.

 In a statement issued on Monday, May 9, the Democratic Union Party called on the Syrians to return to their areas of origin, and not to the settlements established by the Turkish occupation or those established under the auspices of Brotherhood associations, which aim to achieve certain political goals;  To serve the agendas and ambitions of the Turkish Turanian state in bringing about changes in the societal structure of the Syrian people.

 The efforts to resettle refugees in the occupied areas come after the displacement of their original residents by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries, especially in the cities of Afrin, Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî.  In the politics of demographic change by granting indigenous properties to refugee settlers.

 Exploitation of Syrians inside

 After Turkey opened its borders to the thefts that affected the industrial city in the Sheikh Najjar neighborhood of Aleppo, and bought factories and industrial equipment from the thieves, Turkey worked to exploit the Syrians as working inside Turkey, as the Syrians worked for low wages, and many of them were subjected to deceptions.  They were paid their wages and often worked under hard working conditions.

 Recently, the negative feelings of the Turks towards the Syrians have increased, as there have been quarrels and attacks have taken place on more than one occasion against Syrians' shops and homes, causing damage inside them.

 After Erdogan found himself under pressure at home, he came out with a plan to resettle Syrians in the north, to work on "hitting two birds with one stone", as it would relieve pressure at home and remove from the hands of the Turkish opposition a card that the opposition was using to charge the Turks against Erdogan's government, as well as  the latter will implement his plans for demographic change.

 Perpetuating the occupation and encouraging extremism

 The Turkish plan from the beginning was to guarantee the loyalty of everyone living in the Syrian areas occupied by Turkey, so it worked to displace everyone who showed even a little bit of rejection of Turkey and its mercenaries.

 In parallel, the Turkish occupation disseminated the Turkish language and encouraged its learning, with a preference for employment for those who master the Turkish language, and made it the basic alongside Arabic in school curricula. It also worked to change the names of neighborhoods, streets, and public facilities to the names of either Turkish or people who were affiliated with the occupying state.

 Turkey relied on religious discourse in dealing with its mercenaries. In some circles, the title of "Mohammedan Army" was given to the Turkish occupation army, and mercenaries practiced murder, theft, displacement and sabotage under Islamic religious slogans.

 With the escalation of religious discourse, extremist figures appeared and their influence extended to include entire groups and factions, and ISIS elements who fled to Turkey returned to Turkey after the liberation of northern and eastern Syria from ISIS, and the similarity between Turkey's mercenary groups and ISIS became so great that the difference was limited to banners and names.

 The occupation established separating borders between the areas it occupies and the other Syrian areas, as in the wall it built in the countryside of Afrin, and the trench that separates the areas of Serê Kaniyê and Girê Spî from the Syrian body, in addition to establishing dozens of military bases inside Syrian territory.

 Syrian options

 On May 9, 45 human rights organizations and journalists appealed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the European Union, warning of the danger of the Turkish project on demographic change in northern Syria.

 The organizations demanded to refrain from funding Erdogan's project called voluntary return financially and not to grant him legitimacy and legal cover, in order to prevent a future civil war and as it contributes to perpetuating the reality of systematic national demographic change.

 Meanwhile, the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, said, during a speech he delivered at the international dialogue forum held under the slogan "Afrin between the Turkish occupation and international interests" in Barkhdan camp in al-Shahba canton, that the SDF will do what is on its political, legal and military responsibility to thwart the occupation's projects.  , referring to the demographic change project.

 Those who follow this issue believe that the Syrians in Turkey should not submit to Turkish desires, and demand to return to their areas of origin and not accept to live in lands that are not theirs.

 There are also views calling on the Damascus government to move legally in the corridors of the international community;  To prevent Turkey and withdraw international support from its project and to prevent its legalization.

 In addition to the voices calling for an escalation of the struggle against the occupation and the necessity of expelling it from Syrian lands, with pressure towards finding political solutions to the Syrian crisis in a way that ends the suffering of the Syrians and opens the way for them to return safely to their areas of origin.

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 ANHA