Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), who is Erdoğan’s rival in the run-off Turkish presidential elections, is now frequently emphasizing the refugee issue in his speeches. Kılıçdaroğlu states that they will send the refugees back thanks to the money promised by the EU and through an agreement with the Syrian state. İsmet Özçelik wrote about this repatriation plan.
This article was firstly publish in Aydınlık newspaper and translated into English by Uwidata.
CHP’s dangerous repatriation plan for Syrians
Syrian refugees are influential in voter preferences. They are demanded to be sent to their countries by the voters. This issue was also included in the election promises of political parties. It was also on the agenda of the CHP. They were going to send the Syrians with bells on. But how was this going to happen? The information given by a senior CHP official made me worry. This is a serious security problem for Türkiye. Let me briefly outline:
The plan for Syria
We thought they were going to cooperate with Damascus to bring Syrians back to their country, but it turned out that their real intentions were different. A senior CHP official explained their plan as follows:
“We will make a deal with the Americans. They will establish industrial zones. We will send Syrians from Türkiye there. They will never come back.”
Where did the refugees come from? From Syria. Who rules Syria? Bashar al-Assad and his government. Why will you meet with the Americans and not Assad? What is the real intention of the US with industrial zones in the PKK/PYD region east of the Euphrates? The CHP, in agreement with the US, will send Syrians there. The US has established the PKK state. Has the CHP recognized it already?
It’s a common trap: QIZ
Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ). This is a classic American bait and tactic to tie the region to Israel and the US. They tried it before in Jordan and Egypt. US Ambassador Robert Pearson said years ago “We can think of the Southeast and Northern Iraq as a single economic region.”
He suggested the following as the next step: “To unite Kurdistan, which has been divided into four countries (!), into an economic region, and then to establish the second Israel.”
“What is your real intention?”
Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, this issue was also on the agenda.
On 6 or 7 February 2003, there was a meeting on the 2nd floor of the Undersecretariat of foreign trade. On behalf of the US, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury John Taylor and two senior military officers were present. From the government, there was State Minister Kürşat Tüzmen and Ali Babacan, the Minister in charge of the Treasury, Kemal Unakıtan, the Minister of Finance, and one other minister whose name I cannot remember. I was at the meeting. Taylor was trying to convince Türkiye to join the invasion of Iraq. He proposed Qualified Industrial Zones from which he promised duty-free imports to the US. These zones would be part of the Zone in Israel.
Kürşad Tüzmen took the floor and asked: “Where will these regions be established?”
Taylor listed the southeastern provinces: Mardin, Şırnak, Diyarbakır, Urfa…
Tüzmen replied: ”We have regions close to ports. Aegean, Mersin, Antalya Free Zones. Why not here, but in the Southeast… What is your real intention?”
With this question the atmosphere in the meeting suddenly changed.
The US plan and CHP’s nomination for the Greater Middle East Plan (GMEP)
The US makes a plan for its target. Even after many years, it retains its outlines. Although the 2nd State of Israel plan was defeated, it is still in operation. In 2003, they brought the Qualified Industrial Zones project to the agenda. Had the 1 March Bill passed, 80 thousand US troops would have settled in our Southeast. The region would have been economically linked to the US and Israel. Now they will try it in Syria. Obviously, they have made an agreement with the CHP. They are even using the people’s demand that “Syrians should return to their country” for the US and Israel’s plans. This is a very dangerous plan. The run-off round on 28 May is also important in this respect.
Kılıçdaroğlu often emphasizes that the CHP has changed a lot. The solution they have proposed for Syrian refugees is part of the GMEP. The GMEP was the plan of former US President Bush. It seems that the CHP is a candidate for GMEP co-chairmanship.