CHP leader promises to repatriate refugees, mend relations with Damascus

Photo: AA

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has once again promised to repatriate Syrian refugees and resume diplomatic relations with the Damascus government.

"We'll send our Syrian brothers and sisters to their country, but we'll send them in peace, not by fighting," he said at a meeting with doorkeepers and mukhtars yesterday (September 27) in Hatay, a southern province bordering Syria.

"We must ensure the safety of life and property of Syrians in their country ... We will do it in the same way as the entire world does. If necessary, a peacekeeping force will be there for a certain period," Kılıçdaroğlu remarked.

About the diplomatic relations with Syria, he said, "We'll open our embassies mutually with the Syrian administration. No fighting."

Home to more than 3.6 million Syrians, Turkey is the world's largest refugee host. While opposition leaders have promised to repatriate the refuees once they assume power, a UN commission on Syria recently stated that the country is not safe for a "dignified return. (DŞ/VK)