Main opposition CHP mayor expels refugees from coastlines

A Republican People's Party (CHP) mayor barred Syrian refugees from entering from the coastline, becoming latest example of the party's anti-migrant practices.

Hayri Türkyılmaz, the CHP's mayor in northwestern Bursa's coastline district Mudanya, instructed municipal police to prevent Syrians from entering from shorelines under the pretext of "disturbing the locals."

"They will obey our rules or will return to their countries. While our children are martyred, our economy is deteriorated, they have no right to live in self-indulgence," Türkyılmaz told the media regarding his controversial practice.

He has not been the first to take such a stance against Syrian refugees. Tanju Özcan, the new CHP mayor in western Bolu province, instructed municipality departments to stop relief for foreigners, saying that Syrian refugees should return home as soon as possible. Despite receiving stern criticism, he later continued to support his anti-refugee plan, saying that Iraqi, Syrian and Afghan refugees are living in the "highest standards" in Bolu.

CHP Mayor Rıdvan Karakayalı of the Kemalpaşa district of western İzmir province is also another example of the CHP's increasing anti-refugee rhetoric, as he has promised to expel Syrian refugees in April.

"We will get rid of Syrians. There is peace in Syria, so what they are doing here?" Karakayalı said on a TV program, answering a question regarding the situation of refugees in the district.

The recent anti-refugee practices of the CHP have drawn reactions from society. The International Refugee Rights Association filed a criminal complaint against the Bolu mayor. Speaking for the International Refugee Rights Association, lawyer Uğur Yıldırım said Özcan's decision has caused public resentment, and he did not heed the calls of civil society organizations and lawyers, continuing his discriminatory policies against Syrian refugees. Yıldırım added that Özcan violated the Human Rights Declaration's 14th article of the right of sanctuary and asylum and also acted against equality and equal access to municipality services listed in the Constitution. During the campaign period of the June 2018 parliamentary and presidential elections, CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu adopted a similar populist and exclusionary interpretation of nationalism in a bid to garner votes. In a speech at a rally in northern Giresun in 2017, Kılıçdaroğlu said: "There's no money for farmers, but do you know how much has been spent on the Syrians? $30 billion. They've become first-class citizens. The price of hazelnuts has made people in the Black Sea Region second-class citizens. You will ask for an account of this."