Erdogan says 3 million refugees could be returned to Syria safe zone

Turkish President Recep Tayyip says that up to three million Syrian refugees could be returned to a “safe zone” it is seeking to establish in northern Syria.

Turkey is home to more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees — the highest number in the world — and there have been signs of a public backlash over their presence after eight long years of war in its neighbor to the south.

Working with the United States, Turkish forces are seeking to clear a swathe of northern Syria, in part to push Kurdish rebels away from its border but also to facilitate the return of refugees.

If successful, “we will be able to house, depending on the depth of the safe zone, between two and three million Syrian refugees that are currently in Turkey and Europe,” Erdogan says in a televised speech.

Erdogan says earlier this week that he envisions the “peace corridor” as stretching right across northern Syria all the way to Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa — which he said would allow even more than three million to return.

He calls for “much greater support” from Europe in realizing the plan.

— AFP