Türkiye Calls on Int’l Community to Contribute to Voluntary Return of Syrian Refugees

After winning the elections, the Turkish president reiterated his intention to work on the voluntarily return of the displaced Syrians to their country. (AP)
After winning the elections, the Turkish president reiterated his intention to work on the voluntarily return of the displaced Syrians to their country. (AP)
TT

Türkiye Calls on Int’l Community to Contribute to Voluntary Return of Syrian Refugees

After winning the elections, the Turkish president reiterated his intention to work on the voluntarily return of the displaced Syrians to their country. (AP)
After winning the elections, the Turkish president reiterated his intention to work on the voluntarily return of the displaced Syrians to their country. (AP)

Türkiye has called on the international community to cooperate in achieving the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Syrian refugees on its territory. At the same time, it confirmed that it would continue its operations targeting terrorist organizations at home and across borders.

The country’s National Security Council emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the issue of refugees, saying that it would contribute to achieving their voluntary, safe and dignified return to their homeland.

This came in a statement issued on Thursday evening, at the end of the first meeting of the newly-established council, after the recent presidential and parliamentary elections.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had confirmed, after the first meeting of his new government on Tuesday, that Türkiye would return the Syrian refugees to their country in a safe, voluntary and honorable manner, saying: “We will encourage our brothers, who sought refuge in our country fleeing the war and the attacks of terrorist organizations, to voluntarily return to their homeland safely and honorably.”

During his electoral campaign, Erdogan pledged to return more than a million Syrian refugees to safe areas established by Türkiye in northern Syria, where it is building residential villages with services to accommodate them in conditions suitable for life and work.

“We will contribute to peace and stability on a global scale by maintaining our pioneering foreign policy and active humanitarianism,” he stated.

Türkiye places the return of refugees among the three main goals of negotiations to normalize relations with Syria, which also include cooperation in combating terrorism and advancing the political process to achieve stability and preserve the country’s unity.

Meanwhile, Ankara announced the arrest of a female official in the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in a joint operation of its intelligence with the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army, while she was trying to infiltrate from Manbij into Turkish territory.

On Friday, the official Anadolu Agency quoted security sources as saying that members of the Syrian National Army had arrested an official of the People’s Protection Units in the city of Manbij, after obtaining information from Turkish intelligence about her movements. She was later handed over to the Turkish security authorities.



Türkiye's Erdogan Again Rejects US Proposal to Relocate Palestinians from Gaza

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, 08 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians walk past destroyed houses amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, 08 February 2025. (EPA)
TT

Türkiye's Erdogan Again Rejects US Proposal to Relocate Palestinians from Gaza

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, 08 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians walk past destroyed houses amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, 08 February 2025. (EPA)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again rejected a US proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and said Israel should pay for the damage it caused there and for reconstruction to begin.

“We do not consider the proposal to exile the Palestinians from the lands they have lived in for thousands of years as something to be taken seriously,” Erdogan said during a visit to Malaysia on Monday.

“No one has the power to force the Palestinian people to experience a second Nakba,” he added, referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians after the creation of Israel in 1948.

Erdogan, who is on a four-day tour of Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan, highlighted the severe destruction in Gaza.

He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government should look for funds to “compensate” for what he said was damage amounting to $100 billion “instead of looking for a place for the people of Gaza.”