Recep Tayyip Erdogan Makes Statements About Syrian Refugees

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "About 500 thousand Syrians have returned to the safe zones that Turkey has created since 2016, when it started its cross-border operations. We are in the preparations for a new project that will enable the voluntary return of 1 million Syrian brothers and sisters we host in our country."

  The opening and delivery ceremony of the briquette houses, which were built by 12 NGOs under the coordination of AFAD, was held within the scope of the "We are together, We are by your side in Idlib" Campaign with the Confederation of Civil Servants Unions (Memur-Sen) and Mehmet Akif Inan Foundation. Participating in the program attended by Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu via video conference, President Erdoğan addressed the beneficiaries.   Underlining that 50 thousand families have been placed in the houses whose construction has been completed so far, Erdoğan said, "Hopefully, we will increase the number of briquette houses to 100 thousand in total, so we will  try to improve the conditions of 100 thousand families even if a little bit. I wish the briquette houses to be beneficial to our Syrian brothers who will live here. I would like to thank all of our institutions, non-governmental organizations, benefactors and everyone who worked on its construction.  

"No one leaves their motherland, home, or daily life without reason"

  President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continued his speech with the following words: "No one leaves their motherland, home, or daily life for no reason. No one walks arbitrarily towards an uncertain future. It is our duty as a human being to open our borders and hearts to those who face such an obligation, and to give them all kinds of support. Both our civilization and our history tells us to support them. We stand before the world with tranquility of fulfilling our duty. With this peaceful heart, we show it to their face; the racist, discriminatory, selfish, hypocritical attitude of Westerners. When we look at the oppressed, we only see human beings. We did not look at their faith, language, the color of their eyes, hair, or skin, we do not.   We did not and do not classify the geographies we set foot on for aid according to their natural riches. Seeing only people, only the oppressed, only the victim, requires us to take action for it. With this understanding, we carry out aid and support programs not only in Syria but also in many parts of the world. For years, we have been with our friends with a wide range of activities in many parts of Africa and the Balkans."

"We sent 100 trucks of humanitarian aid to Ukraine"

"In the past weeks, we have sent 10 different charity trains with 5 thousand tons of humanitarian aid materials to Afghanistan. Since the war in Ukraine started, we have sent 100 trucks of humanitarian aid to this country. We have delivered 3 charity ships to Lebanon, which is in serious trouble, with the support of our non-governmental organizations. We are carrying out relief efforts in various regions of Syria, reaching a total of approximately 6 million people. In short, we are working hard to stand by all the oppressed and victims." used the phrases.

"500,000 Syrians have returned"

"As a nation that believes in the blessings of sharing and giving, we believe that our Rabb has given us much more in return for these aids. Of course, we not only opened our doors to save the lives and dignity of the oppressed, but also made every effort to help them return to their homes. Since 2016, when Turkey started its cross-border operations in the face of the deepening humanitarian tragedy in Syria, approximately 500 thousand Syrians have returned to the safe zones it has created until today."

"We are in the process of preparing a new project that will enable the voluntary return of 1 million of our Syrian brothers"

"Briquette houses were one of these steps. Now we are in the preparations for a new project that will ensure the voluntary return of 1 million Syrian brothers and sisters we host in our country. We will implement this project with the support of our country and international non-governmental organizations. Azez, Jarablus, El Bab, Tel Abyad and Resualyn. This project, which we will carry out together with local councils in 13 different regions, especially in 13 different regions, is quite comprehensive. All the needs of daily life, from housing to school and hospital, and all self-sufficient economic infrastructure from agriculture to industry will be included in this project. I hope other parts of Syria will also be included. We'll do similar studies there when it's safe to do so, and we'll try to establish the framework for voluntary returns..”