Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Tuesday that it is possible to restrict Syrian refugees' visit to the opposition-held areas in northern Syria during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, Andolu Agency reported.
Soylu confirmed in a press statement that the Turkish Ministry of Interior is considering restricting visits during this and the upcoming Eid.
Soylu accused the leader of the opposition Republican People's Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, of adopting a provocative method to inflame xenophobia in Turkey, while at the same time raising the issue of refugees with the approach of each election.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Kilicdaroglu said that his party will work to send refugees to their country of their own will while ensuring the safety of their lives and property in the event of his coming to power.
"We will make peace with that country (Syria) and we will send them to their country," he said.
Dovlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, partner of the Justice and Development Party in the People's Alliance, said in a speech before his party's parliamentary bloc in Parliament today, that as soon as the harsh conditions that caused the departure of Syrian refugees to their country are eliminated. "Our priority and goal is to bid farewell to them as they came safely and voluntarily."
He also added, "There is no need for the return of Syrian refugees who are able to go to their country to spend the Eid."
In previous years, Turkey allowed Syrians residing on its lands to go to their country to spend the Eid holidays.
Turkey already hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees, the largest refugee population in the world.
The Syrian conflict has claimed 500,000 lives and has displaced 13,2 million people since it erupted in March 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-regime protests.
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