More than 200,000 Syrian Turkish citizens eligible to vote

There are around 220,000 Syrians who have obtained Turkish citizenship and are eligible to vote.

As polls closed in Turkey, Middle East Eye spoke to two Syrian Turkish voters, who cast their ballots in an atmosphere of increasing hostility against Syrian refugees.

Yahya, 25, first arrived in Turkey more than 10 years ago, as the Syrian conflict escalated.

He’s in the process of finishing a master’s degree in mathematical engineering in Istanbul and today is the first Turkish election in which he is eligible to vote.

Yahya said he voted for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan without hesitation.

“I think Erdogan is the right person for the Syrian refugees to live in peace in Turkey,” said Yahya.

The opposition, says Yahya, “treat us as if we are from a lower class, as if we are ignorant, and we cannot be like them. They want us to leave this country and send us back to Syria. That would put people like me in danger and set our lives back years.”

While the opposition has gone to great pains to project itself as a defender of the rule of law and justice, many Syrians are fearful that they could face sudden and arbitrary detention and worse deportation.

Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has vowed to send Syrians back to their country within two years.

Mohamed, 29, who didn’t wish to give his surname because of the sensitivity around Syrians voting in the elections, also voted for Erdogan due to his “visionary projects”.

Asked what he thought of the opposition, Mohamed, who is doing a master’s in sociology, said: “It is enough to examine the degrading rhetoric the opposition has engaged in over the last five years. This rhetoric seeks to isolate Syrians in Turkey socially and culturally.”

You can read more about Syrian Turkish voters in this piece by Stefania D'Ignoti reported from Gaziantep:

Turkish-Syrian voters see Erdogan as 'lesser of two evils'

Supporters of the CHP gather in Gaziantep’s Cakmak District during a rally held by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoglu, ahead of the upcoming Turkish elections, on 26 April 2023 (MEE/Carola Cappellari)

And on the plans to repatriate Syrian refugees, Yusuf Selman Inanc reported from Syria’s Idlib province. You can see that here:

Turkish politicians vow to send Syrians back after elections - but to where?

Syrians carry bags with harvested roses at an agriculture field near the village of Killi in Syria's rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, on 1 May 2023 (AFP) — Syrians carry bags with harvested roses at a field near the village of Killi in Syria's rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, on 1 May 2023 (AFP)