Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has criticized the Turkish government’s Syria and refugee policy and blamed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for violence against Syrians in Turkey, which was triggered by an alleged incident of child abuse in central province of Kayseri.
Violence broke out in the Melikgazi district of Kayseri after a Syrian refugee allegedly molested a 7-year-old girl, sparking anti-Syrian riots that spread to several provinces. CHP leader Özgür Özel blamed Erdoğan for the worsening situation and called on the government to urgently address the crisis.
The party also accused Erdoğan of causing the destruction of Syria and turning Turkey into “a refugee depot,” negotiating with Europe over the lives of these refugees and ignoring the growing social, political, economic and demographic problems caused by the increasing number of refugees.
The CHP emphasized that Turkey should stick to the principle of non-interference it had maintained in the republic’s early years and called for a new Syria policy, saying that the current approach is untenable.
Under Erdoğan’s AKP government, Ankara became more belligerent and active in conflicts in the region, supporting proxies.
Turkey and its proxies have seized control of territory inside Syria in several military operations launched since 2016 against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Kurdish militia.
The CHP called on the government to publish a realistic roadmap for the repatriation of refugees and to continue normalization with Damascus.
In response to the escalating violence, Turkish police have detained 474 people involved in anti-Syrian riots. In Kayseri, Syrian-owned stores and houses were attacked and a grocery store was set on fire. The unrest also spread to other cities. In Gaziantep, Syrian-owned vehicles and stores were vandalized, in the Reyhanlı district of Hatay there were convoys of anti-refugee protesters, and in Adana police blocked access to a Syrian neighborhood.
The violence continued in Kayseri, where thousands of protesters clashed with police using tear gas, percussion bombs and plastic bullets. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reported that 285 of those detained had criminal records and emphasized the need for restraint.
There were also clashes in the Turkish-controlled northwest of Syria, in which seven people were killed and more than 20 injured. Turkish trucks were attacked and flags were torn down in protest against the violence in Turkey.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the use of the incidents in Kayseri for provocations in northern Syria and reiterated its commitment to the well-being of the Syrian people. Turkey, which hosts around 3.2 million Syrian refugees, has been confronted several times in the past with xenophobic incidents fueled by rumors on social media.
As tensions rise, Erdoğan has hinted at possible talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that could potentially affect the future of Syrian refugees in Turkey.