Turkish Opposition Leader Plans to Return Syrian Refugees

Turkish police detain demonstrators in Istanbul on the anniversary of a suicide bombing in Suruc (AFP)
Turkish police detain demonstrators in Istanbul on the anniversary of a suicide bombing in Suruc (AFP)
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Turkish Opposition Leader Plans to Return Syrian Refugees

Turkish police detain demonstrators in Istanbul on the anniversary of a suicide bombing in Suruc (AFP)
Turkish police detain demonstrators in Istanbul on the anniversary of a suicide bombing in Suruc (AFP)

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of Turkey's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, has renewed his intention to return Syrian refugees to their country if he won the presidential elections in June 2023.

Kilicdaroglu announced a four-stage plan over two years to return 99 percent of the Syrian refugees to their country after providing them with all means of safety and stability.

Speaking at a meeting with representatives of community organizations and local leaders in Ankara, the opposition leader said the first stage includes dialogue with the Syrian regime and restoring relations to normal between Ankara and Damascus.

The second step includes ensuring the safety of citizens' lives and property if they return to areas under the regime's control, said Kilicdaroglu, adding that the Turkish and Syrian armies and the UN will provide security.

The third stage will prepare for housing and jobs for the returnees through EU funding to Turkish construction companies, and the fourth stage includes transferring the factories established by Syrian businessmen in Gaziantep to Aleppo.

Kilicdaroglu indicated that the Turkish community is not comfortable with the Syrians, adding that he will create the right conditions for 99 percent of the Syrian refugees to return to their homeland.

The opposition leader made numerous statements about returning the Syrians and bidding farewell to them at the border.

"Don't you worry. We will send our Syrian siblings to their homes with drums and zurnas within two years at the latest," Kilicdaroglu said.

The issue of the displaced Syrian has become the top concern of the Turkish public ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections next year, in light of the deteriorating economic conditions in the country.

Meanwhile, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, will visit Turkey between Jul 25 and 29.

Msuya is expected to meet with Turkish officials, donors, UN agencies, and local and international NGOs involved in cross-border aid. She will engage with affected people and Syrian women's groups to discuss the challenges they face.



Israel Says Campaign on Iran to Intensify as Tehran Pledges 'Destructive' Attacks

A building stands damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 14, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A building stands damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 14, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Israel Says Campaign on Iran to Intensify as Tehran Pledges 'Destructive' Attacks

A building stands damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 14, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A building stands damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 14, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Israel pounded Iran for a second day on Saturday and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its campaign would intensify, while Tehran stated that "heavy and destructive" attacks by Iran against Israel were expected within the coming hours.

Netanyahu said Israel's strikes had set back Iran's nuclear program possibly by years and rejected international calls for restraint.

"We will hit every site and every target of the Ayatollahs' regime, and what they have felt so far is nothing compared with what they will be handed in the coming days," he said in a video message.

In Tehran, Iranian authorities said around 60 people, including 29 children, were killed in an attack on a housing complex, with more strikes reported across the country. Israel said it had attacked more than 150 targets.

Iran had launched its own retaliatory missile volley on Friday night, killing at least three people in Israel. Air raid sirens sent Israelis into shelters as waves of missiles streaked across the sky and interceptors rose to meet them.

In the first apparent attack to hit Iran's energy infrastructure, Iranian media reported a fire on Saturday after Israel bombed the South Pars gas field in southern Bushehr province. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said some gas production there was suspended following the attack.

"If (Supreme Leader Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

Iran said 78 people were killed on the first day and scores more on the second.

A military official on Saturday said Israel had caused significant damage to Iran's nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan, but had not so far taken on another uranium enrichment site, Fordow, dug into a mountain.

The official said Israel had "eliminated the highest commanders of their military leadership" and had killed nine nuclear scientists who were "main sources of knowledge, main forces driving forward the (nuclear) program.”

Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press revealed some of the damage sustained by Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal in an Israeli attack on the country.

Images from Planet Labs PBC taken Friday showed damage at two missile bases, one in Kermanshah and one in Tabriz, both in western Iran.