All refugees will be back in their home in 2 years after taking power: CHP leader

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader, has vowed to send back all Syrian and Afghan refugees back to their homes in two years after coming to power.

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"I am very sensitive on this issue. I am not racist. I'm not angry at the people who came here, but at the people who made them come here," Kılıçdaroğlu said at a meeting he attended in the province in Central Anatolia province of Nevşehir on Sept. 2. He claimed Turkey can "hardly feed itself and cannot take the burden of the refugees."

Turkey is hosting around five million refugees, of whom 3.7 million are Syrians and 300,000 are Afghans. There is a growing concern that Afghans fleeing their country will make their way to Turkey or to Europe via Turkey.

"Everyone should go to their country and live there in peace. They can receive humanitarian assistance there. Help them but not here. I will provide life security for them and will help them," Kılıçdaroğlu said. In earlier remarks, the CHP leader had vowed to negotiate with the Syrian regime for the return of their citizens and resumption of diplomatic ties between the two countries if they come to power.

Kılıçdaroğlu recalled that Turkey has already spent $40 billion on Syrians, underlining that Turkish farmers and industrialists would make enormous progress if this money was allocated to them.