(Zaman al-Wasl)- Once again and without their will, Syrians find themselves amid the political conflict in Turkey following talks of giving Syrians Turkish nationality. Syrians add one more point to the points’ record between the ruling party AKP and opposition parties headed by CHP and MHP parties.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan address to a group of Syrians during an Iftar in the southern Turkish city of Kilis fueled the new political battle as the president directly said Syrians residing in Turkey might be granted Turkish nationality confirming the ministry of interior allocated an office for that matter.
Prime Minister Binali Yilidirm confirmed Erdogan’s statement two days later that the Turkish government is making steps to grant Syrians the right to apply for Turkish citizenship. He added the government has data which can enable it distinguish those who deserve to be granted the citizenship according to its standards.
Until this point, Syrians do not know the mechanism of applying and the conditions that allow them to do so, as Zaman al-Wasl asked a group of Syrians.
Almost everything is ambiguous concerning the promised citizenship. What is only clear are the statements made by opposition leaders and some campaigns on social media rejecting to grant Syrians the citizenship. However, they calmed down fast which makes it clear the campaigns were provoked for a great extent and do not represent the main stream in the Turkish public opinion.
The opposition statements might be as well a point against them for Erdogan and might help him to enhance his image as a humanitarian leader answering the calls of the oppressed when there are those who stand against them to stop him from helping Syrians.
The opposition seemed unaware that they would lose a battle with Erdogan when the battle is humanitarian since Erdogan is one of the leaders who lean to use emotional and humanitarian statements in his speeches.
Erdogan seems to have succeeded in dragging the opposition once again to a lost battle. The field of the battle is not theirs. That’s shown in the initial statements of the General Secretary of CHP Kamil Okyay Sindir and the deputy chief of MHP Mehmet Gunal.
What is noticeable is that both parties launched their statements criticizing the decision to grant Syrian citizenship from the same stand and same time on the margin of Junal’s visit to the CHP headquarters.
Sindir considered naturalizing Syrians is only a cover to achieve political goals whereas Gunal focused his criticism on problems of some individuals of Turk origin who were not granted citizenship and hence there should not be these problems when talking about naturalizing Syrians.
Gunal questioned why naturalize Syrians now and is it some sort of a deal with Russia and Israel.
Also, Gunal said naturalizing Syrians will get Erdogan more popularity and it seems this is what the opposition is afraid of in addition to other fears.
All in all, the political conflict since the Syrian issue entered the Turkish politics did not calm down. Probably this conflict will intensify as Ankara launches the program of naturalizing Syrians.
It is a turning point for Erdogan and his opponents similar to the first general presidential elections when Erdogan’s opposition thought he will distance the Syrian issue from the election and the opposition lost the bet as Erdogan won presidency. (Translation by Rana Abdul)
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